Key Takeaways
July 7, 2026 · 4 min read · By Rishabh Bhardwaj
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Cult.fit, the Bengaluru-based fitness and wellness platform, has filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for an initial public offering comprising a fresh issue of up to Rs 950 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 17.86 crore equity shares by existing shareholders. The filing marks a significant milestone for one of India's largest fitness chains, which has been loss-making despite a decade of growth.
The company may also raise up to Rs 190 crore through a pre-IPO placement before the public issue opens. If that happens, the fresh issue size will shrink by the same amount. The final IPO size in rupee terms will only be clear once the price band is set, since the OFS value depends directly on the issue price.
Among the sellers in the OFS, Temasek-backed MacRitchie Investments is the largest, offloading up to 2.47 crore shares. Co-founder Mukesh Bansal will sell up to 1.6 crore shares. Other sellers include Fitness First Luxembourg, IDG Ventures India, Tata Digital, Chiratae Trust, Accel entities, Kalaari Capital and Schroders Capital. OFS proceeds go to selling shareholders, not to the company itself, so the capital structure impact differs from the fresh issue component.
The Rs 950 crore fresh issue has a clear allocation plan. The largest chunk, Rs 217.5 crore, goes toward lease and rental payments for existing fitness centres. Rs 120 crore will repay or prepay borrowings, reducing the company's debt load. Rs 75 crore is earmarked for brand marketing and business promotion. The remainder will fund general corporate purposes. Together, these allocations signal that Cult.fit is using the IPO primarily to shore up its balance sheet and lock in its physical footprint rather than fund aggressive new expansion.
Cult.fit has raised more than $714 million across 16 funding rounds since its founding in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori. Its most recent valuation, set after a $47.6 million Series G round in March 2026, stood at roughly Rs 12,600 crore ($1.5 billion). Existing investors include Tata Digital, Temasek, Accel, Kalaari Capital, Chiratae Ventures and Zomato.
The company operates more than 700 fitness centres across India and runs two adjacent businesses: Cultsport, a sportswear and equipment brand, and Care.fit, a healthcare services arm. For FY26, Cult.fit is estimated to have reported revenue of around Rs 1,700 crore, with the fitness business contributing close to 70% of the total. Despite that revenue scale, the company continues to report net losses, making the path to profitability one of the key questions investors will scrutinise in the IPO process.
Ahead of the DRHP filing, Cult.fit appointed four independent directors, Kalpana Morparia, Arun M Kumar, Indu Bhushan and Pragya Misra, to comply with SEBI's corporate governance norms for listed companies. These appointments are standard pre-IPO housekeeping but signal that the company is moving seriously toward a public market timeline.
Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, Goldman Sachs (India), Jefferies India and JM Financial are the book-running lead managers. MUFG Intime India is the registrar. The composition of the banker syndicate, which spans domestic and global names, suggests the company is targeting both Indian retail and institutional investors as well as foreign portfolio investors.
SEBI typically takes 30 to 75 days to process a DRHP and issue observations. Once SEBI clears the filing, Cult.fit can open its IPO within 12 months. The actual listing date will depend on market conditions and final pricing decisions. For investors, the key numbers to watch are the price band, which will determine the OFS value and total issue size, and any updated FY26 financials that will appear in the final prospectus. For the broader fitness and consumer wellness sector, a successful Cult.fit listing could serve as a valuation benchmark for the segment.
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