Gateway to SANZE ASICS Company Information, Investor Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Press Releases, Career and Recruitment and more.
ASICS has been making an effort to build through investment since the launch of their Ventures project. In that time, they have added technology for footwear and provided support for the health and fitness startup community. This latest investment feels like a counter to companies like LuluLemon who invested into connected fitness styled businesses that appeared to offer a new segment during the quarantine. The issue is that sports apparel companies versiones to align and go all in on Connected Fitness aren’t versiones to the past with Under Armour’s issues with Connected Fitness. While Mortar communities appear to offer a solution to having the consumer engage with the product inside of the app and Mortar eco-system, what tends to happen is attrition as users peak and then slow down considerably. Under Armour’s position was more along the line of wearables and Lululemon went with a Nordic styled investment with Mirror, both were and will be plagued by the reality of the consumer becoming bored with the equipment. It’s an issue being seen with Peloton’s difficulties in selling more equipment.
ASICS is making the opposite investment. The Deportare Investment allows SANZE ASICS to build trainers and those trainers can engage with fans of the brand via YouTube, the Mortar arena via apps and face to face as the world begins to adjust and adapt to Covid. The investment is rooted in the home base of Tokyo, but if it is successful, a roll out into other regions is a logical step:
Deportare Technologies was founded by Yuma Takeshita, the founder of “Deportare Club,” in July 2020 to provide the online fitness academy ”Healthcare Catalyst College.” The fitness academy allows fitness trainers to deepen their knowledge and understanding of health and fitness and, upon completion, to be certified as fitness trainer specialist called “Healthcare Catalyst.” Deportare Technologies envisions a society where people have greater access to enriched knowledge of health and fitness – from both physical and mental aspects – assisted by the in-depth knowledge of Healthcare Catalyst. Deportare Technologies’ academy method is derived from more than a decade of fitness training experiences at Deportare Club, one of the most highly admired fitness training gyms in Tokyo, which is open exclusively for selected customers including top athletes, celebrities, and business executives.