Expresso Fitness boosted by $6M

August 19, 2009 | Camille Ricketts | Comments | |

Expresso Fitness, maker of cardio gym equipment with interactive, virtual reality screens, has brought in $6 million in a fourth round of funding from Sierra Ventures, Physic Ventures, and Enterprise Partners Venture Capital, reports PE Hub. The Sunnyvale, Calif. company says it will use the new financing to add new features to its current products and to beef up its sales operations.

Expresso currently sells two types of stationary bikes — upright (which also comes in child-size) and recumbent. Both include an LCD screen programmed with different “tours” and routes designed to make the user feel like they are really on the road. These programs are matched with the difficulty and resistance of the actual exercise routine. For example, you will feel more resistance if you choose a course with a lot of hills. The bikes also include games where exercisers can earn points and compete against theor own personal bests — encouraging a better workout every time.

Expresso previously raised $34 million from the investors listed, as well as $7 million in working capital from Silicon Valley Bank. It also just named David Grenewetzki as president and chief executive officer.

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About the Author, Camille Ricketts

Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.

  • barbaraclarke
    Expresso Fitness has been shut down since the 4th week of August..Apparently on September 24, 2009, Expresso announced on its home page that it had a "financial hiccup." We understand that they are looking for a buyer...as a vendor and creditor of Expresso with a balance in the excess of $16,000, we are devastated. I wonder how many other little guys are in the same spot.
    Maybe you should run a current article letting others know about Expresso's "financial hiccup."
  • Jim
    We're in the same boat. There has been no information from the company, and they owe us @ $12k - and we're small too.
  • Name
    We were also taken for a spin on the Expresso..but not before they actually called and pulled in all of their open PO's knowing they were going under!