US Fitness Giant Strava Buys Popular UK Coaching App, Runna

US fitness app Strava has acquired UK-based coaching startup Runna, the Verge reported. Strava is among the most famous fitness social apps in the US market. Runna hit the limelight in 2021 and has been backed by Olympic athletes.

Strava buys Runna fitness app at a time when the UK company has gained popularity among users who need plans to train for 5,000m, 10,000m, or marathon.

A Win-Win Deal

The Strava-Runna acquisition deal has been described as a win-win for both companies. Strava gets to integrate running training plans, which it currently lacks. Its research shows that the lack of marathon training plans by Strava has been a pain point for its long term customers.

“For a while, Strava had created static, document-based plans for runners but the reality is those were used very, very infrequently. We came to realize that, as it related to runners, that guidance was training plans,” Strava CEO Michael Martin said.

Runna offers customized running programmes based on the skill sets of a user. Through the deal, the fitness app gets to access the largest digital running communities and financing. Strava is currently ranked second in the world by revenue by Statista. The US fitness company closed the deal to acquire Runna on April 16. This latest deal will enable Strava to expand running features and create the largest fitness app in the world.
“We are delighted to become part of Strava as we continue to focus on bringing the world the most customised and personalised training plans available. We have spent many hours together with Strava senior management and we couldn’t be more excited to be on the same team. Our passion is to give every runner a training plan and access to amazing coaching and this investment allows us to make even more improvements to everything we do at Runna, benefiting runners worldwide,” Runna Co-founder and CEO Dom Maskell said.

Changes Won’t Be Immediate

As the two fitness firms work on the acquisition deal, their users will have to wait a little longer to see Strava training plans updates.

“Effectively, nothing changes for the user out of the gate. Our plan with this acquisition is to invest further into growing the Runna app, invest in the Runna team, and then continue to operate them as independent but in an integrated fashion,” Martin said.

He added that once the two companies finalize the deal, their customers should start noticing changes on the apps. This will likely happen in the coming weeks or months. Runna expects flawless integration of the two apps to create a positive experience for users.

“The ambition is to do things where it makes sense. It’s like, the user comes on and they want to see what run they’re doing today. That sits in Runna, and then they want to go find a route for that run — that sits in Strava. Then, if they want live coaching, that’s on Runna and then Strava frankly has better tech than us for recording on your phone. At the moment, the user kind of gets passed off quite a lot of times,” Maskell added.

A Good Fit

Strava was founded in 2009. The company built its business model around API development. Over 100 apps connect to its API and it is thrilled to invest in an API developer like Runna.

“Coming off Strava’s accelerated innovation and unprecedented growth last year, it was the right time to look for complementary businesses that could create even greater value for our users. Running is booming worldwide. Runna’s mission to give every runner a personalized plan to achieve their goal is a perfect fit,” Martin added.

Although the terms of the deal were not available, Dealroom estimates show that Strava could pay more than $40 million to acquire Runna. The coaching app has raised $6.3 million to finance its AI-powered coaching aspect since its launch.
Its 2022 seed round was backed by Team GB Olympic marathoner Stephanie Davis, Irish rugby union player Gregory O’Shea, and Joshua Patterson, the Made in Chelsea Star. The app tripled its team in 2024. Currently, Runna is used by people from 180 countries and is hiring for 50 roles to expand its technology and product range.