Playlist and HTGF Portfolio company EGYM Announce Agreement to Merge and $785 Million in New Equity Investments, Bringing Together Global Leaders in Fitness and Wellness Technology

With an aggregate enterprise value of $7.5 billion, the combined company will unite software, connected hardware, consumer platforms, and corporate wellness solutions to create a global destination for wellbeing.

NEW YORK/MUNICH/BONN, January 15, 2026—Playlist, the newly launched parent brand of Mindbody, Booker, and ClassPass, and EGYM, a global innovation leader in smart fitness technology, AI-enabled workout programming, and corporate wellness solutions, today announced a definitive agreement to merge. The transaction includes $785 million in new equity investments and values the combined enterprise at $7.5 billion. The new investment is led by Affinity Partners, with participation from a consortium of existing investors including Vista Equity Partners, Temasek, and L Catterton. This makes the round the largest in the portfolio of HTGF, one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe.

EGYM has been part of the HTGF portfolio since 2011. From the earliest stage, HTGF provided capital, hands-on sparring and network access, supporting EGYM’s evolution from a strong product to a data-driven platform that combines AI-enabled equipment with the Wellpass corporate wellness network. EGYM is one of HTGF’s standout portfolio successes, underscored by its unicorn status in 2024.  

Upon the closing of this deal, Playlist’s suite of brands will operate as they do today, while EGYM will continue its operations as a subsidiary within the Playlist portfolio.  Playlist CEO and ClassPass Founding Chairman Fritz Lanman and EGYM Co-Founder and CEO Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer will be named and serve as Co-Founders of the new Playlist organization. As part of the transaction, Roesch-Schlanderer will also join Monti Saroya, Co-Head of Vista Equity Partners’ Flagship Fund, as Co-Chairman of Playlist.

Playlist powers in-person wellness experiences through AI-driven software and consumer booking platforms, while EGYM transforms healthcare from repair to prevention through smart equipment, hyper-personalized AI training plans, and EGYM Wellpass, an extensive corporate fitness platform which partners with more than 20,000 employers and tens of thousands of fitness locations worldwide. The two complementary organizations, each a leader in their respective regions and categories, will combine their expertise to form an integrated wellness technology platform that gives people the tools they need to take charge of their health and wellbeing.

Together, Playlist and EGYM plan to create new opportunities to advance in-person wellness on a global scale by combining complementary visions, products, geographies, and audiences. In 2025, Playlist and EGYM generated more than $800 million in net revenue while maintaining high-growth momentum and strong profitability. The new equity funding will support increased investment in artificial intelligence to help fitness studios, gyms, and wellness operators run more efficiently and deepen member engagement. The investment will also enable EGYM to further expand its fitness technology and corporate wellness offerings into Playlist’s core geographies, including North America and Asia, where they currently have a limited presence. In parallel, the funding will allow Playlist to further grow its limited to-date presence in Europe through EGYM’s established footprint.

Closing of this transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Executive Commentary

Fritz Lanman, CEO of Playlist:
“This merger represents a pivotal moment for both our companies as we continue to build the infrastructure behind the world’s most meaningful in-person wellness experiences. We’re inspired by what EGYM is doing to accelerate that vision with technology and corporate wellness solutions that power wellbeing at scale. By combining our geographies and complementary product portfolios, we’re uniting multiple layers of wellness—software, connected hardware, consumer booking, and workplace wellbeing—into one global platform.”

Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, CEO of EGYM:
“Bringing EGYM together with the newly created Playlist under one roof represents a profound opportunity to impact lives through preventative health. We are uniting smart training equipment, club and studio access, management software, corporate wellness, and personalized AI training into one connected ecosystem that will finally prove and scale the true value the fitness industry delivers. Together, we can reduce chronic disease, lower healthcare costs, and make people healthier and happier by shifting the world from repair to prevention.”

HTGF Perspective: From Seed to Global Platform 

Markus Kreßmann, Partner at HTGF, who has supported HTGF’s investment in EGYM since 2014, said: “With this outstanding merger, EGYM’s management is purposefully continuing its longstanding M&A strategy. The result is a global player in fitness & wellness technology—exactly the ambition CEO Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer set out when we invested at seed in 2011. We need more of this entrepreneurial spirit in Germany and Europe.”  

Dr. Ulrich Schmitt, Partner at HTGF, added: “By joining forces Playlist and EGYM are poised for even greater impact in wellness and preventative health. We are very much looking forward to continuing to support the management team with everything that lies ahead.”  

Sebastian Borek, Managing Director at HTGF, commented: “This is exactly why HTGF exists: empowering founders from day one and staying close as they scale globally. EGYM is a standout example, transforming training into data-driven, engaging experiences and connecting millions of employees through corporate wellness. We are proud to have played a part in this success story and look forward to supporting the next chapter.”  

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About Playlist 
Playlist is the parent brand that brings together Mindbody, Booker, and ClassPass—fitness and wellness platforms that power experience-driven businesses across fitness, wellness, lifestyle, and beyond. Through a growing suite of AI-driven SaaS and consumer offerings, Playlist helps people discover and book experiences that bring joy, movement, and meaning to everyday life. Learn more at playlist.com. 

About EGYM 
Since 2010, EGYM has been a global innovation leader in the fitness and health industry with the vision of transforming healthcare “from repair to prevention.” EGYM Wellpass partners with companies to improve employee health by providing access to fitness and health facilities. And EGYM Technology equips those facilities with smart strength equipment and digital training solutions to offer an AI-driven workout experience for exercisers of all skill levels. Corporate customers benefit from reduced healthcare costs and increased productivity, and clubs from a growing membership base that stays engaged. Learn more at egym.com/int 

About Affinity Partners  
Affinity Partners is a Miami-based investment firm founded in 2021 by Jared Kushner. With over $5.7B under management and a team of 30+ professionals, Affinity focuses on growth equity, financial services, and technology investments at scale, with a flexible mandate across industries and geographies.

About Vista Equity Partners 
Vista is a global technology investor that specializes in enterprise software. Vista’s private market strategies seek to deliver differentiated returns through a proprietary and systematic approach to value creation developed and refined over the course of 25 years and 600+ transactions. Today, Vista manages a diversified portfolio of software companies that provide mission-critical solutions to millions of customers around the world. As of June 30, 2025, Vista had more than $100 billion in assets under management. Further information is available at vistaequitypartners.com. Follow Vista on LinkedIn, @Vista Equity Partners, and on X, @Vista_Equity. 

About Temasek  
Temasek is a global investment company headquartered in Singapore, with a net portfolio value of S$434 billion (US$324 billion) as of 31 March 2025. Its Purpose “So Every Generation Prospers” guides it to make a difference for today’s and future generations. Temasek seeks to build a resilient and forward-looking portfolio that will deliver sustainable returns over the long term. It has 13 offices in 9 countries around the world: Beijing, Hanoi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Singapore in Asia; and Brussels, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. outside Asia. For more information on Temasek, please visit www.temasek.com.sg.  

About L Catterton  
L Catterton is a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm, managing approximately $39 billion of equity capital across three multi-product platforms: private equity, credit, and real estate. The firm’s funds have the ability to invest between $5 million and $5 billion, across the capital structure, in well-positioned consumer businesses. Leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad network of strategic relationships, L Catterton’s team of more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 18 offices partners with management teams to drive differentiated value creation across its portfolio. Founded in 1989, the firm has made over 300 investments in some of the world’s most iconic consumer brands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit www.lcatterton.com.  

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds  
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed  around 800 startups and  achieved  200  successful exits.  HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.  
Fund investors  in the public-private partnership include the  Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as  45 companies  and family offices.   
For more information, please visit  HTGF.de  or follow us on  LinkedIn.    

Media contact  
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH  
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager   
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121  
t.jacob@htgf.de