Can This Startup Stand Up To Decathlon & Cosco In India’s Growing Fitness Products Market?

First-time entrepreneur Prateek Kedia’s story of starting a D2C brand in India’s burgeoning fitness space may not be unique, but it is sure to inspire founders looking to try their hand at D2C.

Uncertain of what he would do next after leaving his corporate job in 2019, Kedia, a chartered accountant, began reading avidly. Behind his restless mind was one thought — how to satiate his entrepreneurial urge. He spent days and nights reading the stories of millionaires and multimillionaires, trying to understand and relate to their journeys, their vision, and what had sparked their passions.

Then the unexpected happened. The pandemic forced people into the confines of their homes, taking a toll on mental and physical health and claiming lives. During this time, many Indians embraced yoga, and Kedia and his family also became inclined towards discovering and adopting the science of healthy living.

However, more than the rising trend of home workouts and yoga, what truly inspired Kedia was that every book he read mentioned yoga and meditation. Even the personalities he idealised had incorporated yoga as a major discipline in their lives.

“I used to read a lot of books during the pandemic — from Sadhguru’s Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy and Robin Sharma’s The 5 AM Club to books on management and startups. Yoga and meditation were recurring themes. This was my eureka moment, and the icing on the cake was that the home fitness industry was already on the rise,” Kedia told Inc42.

Once he decided to enter the home fitness market, things were straightforward from there. For starters, while following his yoga regime, Kedia identified a gap in the market, which was the limited availability of quality yoga mats in the country. From there on, there has been no looking back.

Today, Kedia is the founder of WiseLife, a D2C home fitness brand piloted in 2020. With a total user base of over 3 Lakh, the startup’s FY23 revenues stood at INR 3 Cr. As per the founder, the company has been able to garner INR 9 Cr in FY24 revenues.

WiseLife has also appeared on Shark Tank India and raised INR 1.2 Cr for a 4% equity stake from Namita Thapar, Aman Gupta, Anupam Mittal, and Ritesh Agarwal.

Now, before we dive deeper into what sets the startup apart from its competition or explore the company’s road ahead, let’s take a glance at the founder’s initial journey and understand what has made the brand worthy of Shark Tank fame.

WiseLife’s Humble Beginnings

During the pandemic, Kedia and his wife were repeatedly disappointed every time they ordered yoga mats or related accessories. Cheap mats and products reeked of burnt plastic and were poorly made, while the more expensive options were no better.

“Additionally, local vendors were focused on metrics like 10mm or 12mm thickness without paying attention to quality. Most of these mats were made of PVC, which is neither environmentally friendly nor safe for health,” Kedia said.

Seeing this, Kedia gathered data from Amazon and discovered that yoga mats worth INR 10 Cr were being sold monthly. This led him to realise that the market was promising, and it was time to change the game in the home fitness sector. At the time, few startups were selling yoga mats or accessories. The only players in the market were major sports brands like Decathlon, Nivia Sports, and Cosco.

To test the market’s response, Kedia piloted WiseLife with 400 quality yoga mats on Amazon. He invested INR 5 Lakh in the project, pricing his China-imported mats between INR 1,000 and INR 1,200. The inventory sold out within weeks, validating his thesis of a significant quality gap in the market.

Encouraged by this early success, WiseLife officially launched in January 2021. Today, 85% of WiseLife’s products are made in India, with its warehouse located in Gurgaon.

With a team of over 20, the startup sells its products through its website, Amazon, and Flipkart, and it was recently listed on Blinkit. WiseLife also has an offline presence in sports stores, yoga studios, and gyms across India, with most traffic coming from Rishikesh, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mysore, Pune, and Ahmedabad.

Online sales account for approximately 90% of the startup’s total sales, with the remainder coming from offline channels, according to the cofounder.

What Sets Wiselife Apart?

While building WiseLife, Kedia’s only determination was to fill the quality gap in the market. With this in mind, he differentiated his products in terms of durability and design. With this, he posed a challenge to the ones who were selling generic mats with uninspiring colour options on Amazon across the country. Notably, this inspiration came from the high-quality mats that are sold outside India. 

“Unlike ordinary mats that lose shape or lack rebound, WiseLife mats stay flat, offer excellent grip, and have cushioning that’s easy on the knees. The prints are durable and don’t fade even after washing,” the cofounder said.

The brand uses TPE instead of PVC material in its mats due to the environmental and health effects of PVC. For context, PVC production involves harmful chemicals and emits toxic substances, whereas TPE is more ecofriendly and free from harmful chemicals. Additionally, TPE mats offer better durability, performance, and comfort compared to PVC mats.

WiseLife mats also feature in-house developed patterns like Surya Namaskar motifs, mandalas, mountain peace, and Bohemian designs. It also sells foldable mats with Surya Namaskar poses, mats made of exclusively cork, and mats for skipping.

Not just this, the founder said that the startup’s products are designed with customer needs in mind. Based on customer feedback, they created travel bags, small mats, and yoga bags with compartments for bottles and cash. Apart from this, the brand innovates regularly to introduce new products or designs every three months.

While most mats in the market range from INR 300-500, WiseLife positions itself as a premium brand, with mats priced starting at INR 1,200 and going up to INR 5,500. It competes with brands like Boldfit, TEGO, Kosha Yoga Co, Proyog, Decathlon and Cult.

Initially started with just four SKUs, the startup currently has 44 SKUs, including yoga cushion pads, small-sized exercise mats, meditation cushions, and acupressure mats. Its top sellers include belts, blocks, yoga mat bags, and yoga wheels. As per the Kedia, the startup was the first to innovate in the yoga wheel space. 

Wiselife’s Next Big Steps

According to Kedia, while WiseLife products were receiving good reviews and the material quality was being appreciated, sales weren’t picking up as expected. Profitability was another concern, with Amazon taking 35% of the earnings.

Also, while the demand for yoga products was growing, the real challenges lied in building customer trust, raising awareness, and establishing a strong brand presence. But then, as luck would have it, WiseLife’s first big breakthrough came after appearing on Shark Tank India Season 3.

“Before Shark Tank, the company was getting around 300 orders a day. After the episode aired, sales surged fivefold to 1,500 daily orders, and we quickly ran out of stock on nearly all products. Since then, revenue has grown by more than 2.5X,” Kedia said.

Following the spike, WiseLife garnered INR 9 Cr in FY24 revenues. According to the founder, much of that investment went towards brand building, including collaborations with over 500 influencers to raise brand awareness.

Going forward, the founder wants WiseLife to offer more than yoga mats to become the go-to brand for all yoga accessories. 

To expand WiseLife’s market share, the founder is planning to launch an entire women’s yoga wear range in the next 15 days. “With this move, we can increase our market presence, enhance brand premiumisation, and improve customer experience. We are also working on a new website and our packaging,” Kedia said.

Besides, the move will place the brand in direct competition with players like BlissClub and Nykaa. To stand out, the brand will be focussing on subtle prints and perfecting the 5 Fs: fabric, fit, feel, functionality, and flexibility. Per the founder, their fabric will include 27% spandex, offering superior stretch and durability compared to its competitors that use 15% spandex.  

Following this launch, the founder has set eyes on netting INR 27 Cr in FY25 revenues. However, major players like Decathlon still pose a challenge to the brand, which is still in the making. However, what would bode well for the brand is early adoption of changing lifestyle trends to cater to the swiftly changing preferences of its customers.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]