Here at Wexer we are excited to announce our new partnership with FORTË so we spoke with Founder and CEO, Lauren Foundos to discuss how FORTË began and where she sees the future of fitness.
- Lauren, for those who have not heard of FORTË, can you please provide an overview of the concept.
FORTË has revolutionized the fitness industry by providing access to avant-garde boutique studio classes coached by leading fitness experts worldwide. FORTË installs hardware and software into boutique studios, which enable the classes to be streamed live to FORTË’s platform.
A FORTË subscription gives you access to some of the best fitness experiences. FORTË’s subscribers can experience their favorite classes live or through an on-demand library whether at home, at the gym or on the move.
- What prompted you to start FORTË?
The inspiration for the FORTË concept became clear as studios wanted to offer ‘streaming services,’ but it’s costly, and streaming is not their strength (it’s a whole different business). After rounding up a handful of excited studios, the journey to develop, test, and iterate our streaming hardware and software began.
The best brands in boutique fitness are creating incredible content daily, and we are enabling them to share that with the world. The boutique fitness sector makes up nearly 25% of the fitness industry’s revenue; and with their increasing popularity, it was evident that I needed to find a way to empower studios and make it accessible to all.
- What makes FORTË content different?
As of today, we are the only player in the fitness streaming space bringing the increasingly popular boutique studio experience directly to the masses by partnering with well-established brands and brilliant content creators.
The places are real, the trainers are real, it’s relevant, the participants are real, and the footage is raw and unedited. If you ‘reserve a spot’ for an upcoming live FORTË class, the coach will also cheer you on at home, making it a social and interactive experience.
- Based on your online streaming service, what demographic does FORTË content appeal to?
The FORTË platform offers a wide variety of class types, ranging from yoga, barre, boxing, spinning, to meditation, pilates, and more. There is something for everyone. If the classes are difficult for you, we recommend going at your own pace, and working towards the goal of being in sync with the regular in-studio attendees that you see in the video.
- What advice would you give to a club who wants to add FORTË content to their group exercise timetable?
For gyms to enhance engagement in their community, compete with the evolving boutique fitness industry, and bring their quiet stretching room back to life, they will need to forge relationships with companies like Wexer.
For a small gym located thousands of miles from a large metropolis to enable their clientele to participate in the hottest studios classes, and deliver that content to them live, raw, and unedited, it is important that they adopt this updated technology since this is the future of fitness.
For more information about FORTË, please contact: Morten Andersen, morten@www.wexer.com