Fitness social network Strava is buying Runna, the training app. Strava said that it had decided to buy the app to help continue what had been “unprecedented growth” last year.
London-based Runna offers personalised running plans and coaching to users who might be training for marathons or other races. It was only founded in 2022, but has quickly become one of the world’s most popular training apps and says it has helped “millions” of people train for their first race.
Strava said that the two apps will run separately “for the foreseeable future” but that it would “invest in growing the Runna team and further accelerate the development of the Runna app”, according to its chief executive Michael Martin.
“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,” Mr Martin said in a statement. “Running is booming worldwide—nearly 1 billion runs were recorded on Strava in 2024. Runna’s mission to give every runner a personalized plan to achieve their goal is a perfect fit.”
Neither Strava or Runna announced the terms of the deal. But it is thought to be bringing early backers a multimillion pound payout.
“We are delighted to become part of Strava as we continue to focus on bringing the world the most customized and personalized training plans available,” said Dom Maskell, co-founder and chief executive officer at Runna. “We have spent many hours together with Strava senior management and we couldn’t be more excited to be on the same team.”
Strava has bought other coaching platforms in the past. In 2022, for instance, it bought Recover Athletics, a “prehab” platform that offers stretches and other exercises aimed at helping runners avoid injuries.
But the company’s acquisitions have not always been entirely well-received. Last year, for instance, Strava bought mapping and guidebook app FATMAP and shut it down, integrating its features into its own platform but upsetting some of the company’s customers.
Strava also integrates with more than 100 training apps through its API, which allows other platforms to both read and write data to it. Strava said it remained committed to “maintaining this role as the open platform for fitness and to supporting all developers, alongside Runna”.
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