Japanese sportswear company ASICS has bought fitness app Runkeeper. "When we look ahead, it seems clear that the fitness brands of the future will not just make physical products, but will be embedded in the consumer journey in ways that will help keep people motivated and maximize their enjoyment of sport," said Runkeeper CEO Jason Jacobs on Medium. "By putting these two pieces together (digital fitness platform and world class physical products), you can build a new kind of fitness brand that has a deeper, more trusted relationship with consumers and can engage with them in a more personalized way."
The app was developed in 2008 and has been a way to track activities like running, walking or cycling via GPS on smartphones. The app claims to have more than 45 million users, reported the Next Web.
ASICS first ventured into the app market when it produced My ASICS, which has not seen much success, according to the Next Web. The company called Runkeeper a "world-class leader in the fitness tracking app category." Runkeeper currently charges users a $9.99 fee each month that allows access to special features like training plans and comparison data.
Neither company has disclosed the financial details of the arrangement.
However, the deal will give ASICS the ability to market its sportswear to Runkeeper users, while the app will still operate independently, according to Wired. The deal gives the app financial security, reported the Verge.
The partnership is not the first of its kind. Under Armour joined MyFitnessPal and Adidas now owns Runtastic, reported Wired.
