When it comes to making a decision — whether it’s where to eat, which hairdresser to see or even how to travel — it always helps to have some idea of what we’re getting ourselves into. Sites like Thrillist, Yelp and Atlas Obscura already exist to help consumers make better choices through engaging content and curated reviews, but a Pittsburgh startup expanding to Austin hopes to impact one of the city’s core audiences.
Brothers Joe and Anthony Vennare found themselves at a loss when looking for a single platform dedicated to places like gyms, healthy restaurants and fitness-specific events in their area. “Pittsburgh is a city that’s on the rise — there’s a lot of momentum,” Joe Vennare said. “But the health and fitness community was nonexistent as far as representation.”
Vennare said there were pockets and silos of health and fitness communities, but nothing was centralized. “There’s nothing that connects runners to cyclists to someone who does yoga or Crossfit or eats paleo or vegan,” he said. “We wanted to create a platform that connects people to that larger community; the intent wasn’t to create a huge startup at scale.”
In May of 2015, they founded Fitt, a curated community platform dedicated to the health and fitness community. It soon grew to a place where they had more than two million visitors in 2015 and they were getting demand from other cities. That interest led them to consider expansion, and now Fitt’s community platforms exist in nine cities — with Austin coming soon.
In order to best serve local communities, the company works with freelance contributors who are on the ground in each market. Contributors write blog posts like lists of popular races in town or fun ways to escape the city. Fitt also consults with local experts who are active and engaged in the local health and fitness community for each market. “They connect us to events, organizers, gyms and instructors so we can better understand the community and build those relationships,” said Vennare.
Fitt’s core team in Pittsburgh is made up of editors whose job it is to make sure everything is on brand using the right voice. Vennare said the site targets and draws in an audience between 18 and 34 years old, and even if they’re into fitness, they’re not die-hards about it. “They like their health and fitness with a side of brunch and beer,” said Vennare. “So we’re giving them that socialization along with the workout. It has to be equal parts fun and fitness.”
Austin was a no-brainer for Fitt’s expansion. “Austin is a city with a lot of momentum and energy behind it," said Vennare.
He also cited the city's startup-friendly atmosphere and "a young professional audience who likes to go for a run or bike to work or wants to have a healthy dinner with a cocktail" as reasons for their expansion.
Fitt is expected to launch in Austin later this month.
Images via Shutterstock, Fitt
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