Korea's No. 1 fitness app Planfit eyes bigger market beyond home in 2025

A new year has arrived, and with it come the New Year’s resolutions.

However, if you are one of those who feel you've already failed to keep your New Year’s resolutions, and if one of those goals was to stay fit, don't give up. There are plenty of smart fitness apps to get you back on track.

One of these is Planfit, South Korea’s most popular artificial intelligence technology-powered personalized fitness app, poised to go truly global this year.

Planfit developed by Planfit Inc. offers its users personalized workout plans designed by AI, personal workout records and communities where users share their workout experiences and encourage each other.

Since the launch of its first version in May 2020, Planfit has recorded more than 2 million downloads as of late last year, and 40% of its revenue comes from foreign countries, according to the company.

“The US takes the lion’s share (of global sales),” Baek Hyeonwoo, Planfit’s chief executive officer and co-founder, said in a written interview with The Korea Economic Daily.

“Users and revenue from overseas markets have rapidly grown thanks to regular app updates with AI enhancement catering to international users.”

The Korean fitness app was featured as the App of the Day in 114 countries on Apple’s App Store, the company said.

“We plan to expand the presence (of Planfit) across the globe, especially Asia and Europe, this year,” said Baek.

CHATGPT-BACKED PERSONAL COACHING

Baek developed Planfit based on his devotion to working out in his early 20s when he also trained his friends to keep fit and healthy, he said.

Planfit offers its users complimentary and paid programs.

Its AI-powered engine recommends personally tailored exercise plans for free to its users, while personal workout records and access to community services are also complimentary.

Some personalized AI coaching plans are, however, paid services.

Planfit recommends personal exercise programs using exercise datasets consisting of about 60 million exercise records. The large language model is the main machine-learning algorithm used to operate the app.  

In early 2024, it launched a ChatGPT-based workout coaching program, or personal AI trainer called Planfit GPT, which recommends personal workout routines and the right health equipment and tools based on an individual's physical and health information.

The Korean startup was picked as a ChatGPT plugin partner in May 2023.

EYEING A BIGGER MARKET BEYOND KOREA  

The personalized workout app started generating revenue in February 2023, less than a year after its launch. Since then, it has raked in 2.7 billion won ($1.9 million) in cumulative revenue, boasting a 15% monthly growth rate as of November 2024. 

It hit a record-high monthly revenue of 300 million won in August last year, according to Baek.

Encouraged by its growing popularity, the Korean fitness app plans to attract more users from other countries this year, said Baek.

Most foreign users are from the US and other English-speaking nations.

Now Planfit hopes to bring more users from Asia and Europe, the CEO said.

“Competition in (the AI-backed fitness app) market will intensify further in line with an acceleration in technology development,” said Baek.

“It is important to take the lead in the market by developing a better product faster than our peers and aggressively expanding into other markets.”

“Our goal is to help our members easily maintain their training for longer periods,” added the Planfit CEO.

Planfit raised 300 million won in a seed funding round in 2021, the last investor funding round. 

It has no immediate plan to raise new funds, Baek said.

Last year, Planfit was picked as one of the 20 Korean startups for support from Asan Voyager, a program designed to assist Korean startups entering the US by providing acceleration, coaching, community learning and long-term residency support.

Write to Sookyung Seo at skseo@hankyung.com

Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.