Indoor cycling app Zwift has purchased Czech competitor Rouvy, saying that the acquisition ‘aims to accelerate growth in the indoor cycling category through strategic cooperation between the two companies, while maintaining their independent operations’.
The full terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but the announcement of the purchase says that the two apps will continue to operate independently, following different development paths and offering different subscription packages.
While Zwift’s focus is a gamified indoor cycling environment and competition, Rouvy offers video of real roads to ride and race on and now allows its users to upload their own video and add augmented reality elements such as start lines, spectators and even helicopters for a more pro experience.
Zwift’s announcement suggests that the differentiated experiences offered by the two platforms will continue.
According to Zwift CEO and co-founder, Eric Min, ‘This is a major moment for both Zwift and Rouvy. We have a huge amount of respect for what Rouvy has achieved, developing a fantastic product and growing their global community by demonstrating there is a strong market for real video experiences.’
Min says the indoor cycling market has grown over the past year at the fastest rate since Covid, with indoor training becoming a route that more people are taking into cycling, as they look for an activity to support an active lifestyle and long-term health focus.
He highlights the simplicity and affordability of Zwift Ready trainers as a driver of the take-up of indoor cycling.
As a first post-acquisition step, Zwift Ready trainers and the Zwift Ride smart frame will now immediately work with Rouvy, rather than being a closed ecosystem. Zwift says that there will be further compatibility updates in future.
What’s in it for the two companies? For Zwift, the purchase will eliminate a key competitor while providing another revenue stream and a differentiated product that might attract further users. It may also help shield it from competition from MyWhoosh, which offers a free-to-use gamified experience that could be attracting users away from Zwift’s paid-for platform.
For Rouvy, it should make it easier to attract new users looking for a turnkey way to get riding indoors and broaden the app’s appeal and dominance in the video-based indoor riding space.
It’s only a few months since Rouvy itself acquired Bkool and it also owns the FullGaz cycling app, so the range of options for indoor cycling apps is continuing to diminish as the sector consolidates.