Echelon Fitness, the Chattanooga company that's a key player in the home workout space with its indoor bikes and treadmills, is gearing up to offer its own branded small equipment and accessories.
Fit for Life, which produces and markets small, at-home fitness equipment, has agreed to produce the Echelon-branded goods, according to the companies.
"It's a big deal," said Lou Lentine, Echelon's founder and chief executive, on Friday about Fit for Life sealing the licensing deal with his business. "These guys know what they're doing."
Lentine said the deal gives Echelon even more retail access, and the agreement rounds out the company's offerings in the fitness sector.
"The ability to offer access to Fit for Life products creates an even richer at-home experience," he said. "We are thrilled to add this to our arsenal."
Joey Shamah, co-founder and chief executive of Fit for Life, said the deal brings together two of the most trusted leaders in fitness equipment and allows Fit for Life to grow in the connected fitness space.
"The licensing agreement adds immense value, providing Echelon consumers the opportunity to buy small exercise equipment and accessories from a connected fitness company they already know and trust," he said.
Echelon saw break-neck growth after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Lentine said Echelon's financial picture for 2021 is "looking great."
"Fitness is not slowing down," he said. "Nothing is slowing down in our space."
Last December, Echelon revealed it had raised $65 million in new financing from Goldman Sachs Growth with participation from North Castle Partners to spur the company's expansion goals.
The company late last year started moving into its new headquarters in downtown Chattanooga's Liberty Tower, where it took two floors.
Lentine said earlier this year it has 85 employees in Chattanooga among its total of 250 people, not including 140 dedicated workers at its call center.
He projected that revenues would rise 25% in 2021 over 2020, when it experienced 1,000% growth. Membership, he said then, was growing at about 50%.
In addition to moving into Liberty Tower, Echelon agreed to lease 60,000 square feet of warehouse space off Amnicola Highway.
Lentine, a serial inventor and promoter from New Jersey who brought his Viatek Consumer Products company to Chattanooga in 2011, created Echelon in 2017 to provide what he called a more affordable stationary bike with the tracking and interactive features of Peloton and other higher-priced rivals.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.