Brands
Cure.fit signs Rs 1-bn pact with Hrithik’s HRX
MUMBAI: Wellness startup Cure.fit has announced its Rs 1 billion partnership with the Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan, who will promote Cure.fit through his brand, HRX. His iconic status as a fitness idol will amplify Cure.fit’s mass appeal, endorsing the philosophy of holistic health management.
Cure.fit had bagged US$ 3 million (Rs 192 million) in a round of funding from UC-RNT Fund, a joint venture between Ratan Tata’s RNT Associates and the University of California.
Cure.fit’s offers customised, integrated health-based solutions on a singular platform. This strategic association is expected to accelerate Cure.fit’s expansion plans, pan India. The company’s growth plan over the next five years includes adding 500 new ‘CULT’ outlets – Cure.fit’s chain of fitness centres – across India. The Cure.fit app’s subscriber base will grow to a million users.
Cure.fit’s fitness vertical, Cult.fit, is predicted to witness an exponential growth as a result of its association with Hrithik Roshan and the synergy of ideologies between HRX and Cure.fit. As part of the collaboration, Hrithik Roshan’s signature workout – ‘HRX Workout’, designed by him along with his personal trainer under his brand HRX, is available exclusively at all CULT centers and eventually will be made available on the Cure.fit mobile app.
HRX aims to revolutionise the fitness scenario in India, as a value-for-money, high quality alternative to international brands.
Cure.fit co-founder Mukesh Bansal said, “Our partnership with HRX will enable us to expand our market presence and consumer base.”
Roshan said, “I strongly believe in the philosophy of healthy living which is integral to brand HRX – it is not just about being fit, but truly undergoing a transformation in your lifestyle and understanding the connection between mind and body.”
HRX co-founder Afsar Zaidi said, “The collaboration is a strategic move to grow the fitness community for our brand to propel itself as one of the top home grown fitness brands in the country. In our journey of HRX to touch a billion people of our country, this partnership will play a key role.”
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
