'There's going to be a lot of consolidation': Aviron CEO Andy Hoang on growing a fitness brand during a cooling economy

Aviron founder and CEO Andy Hoang joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about Aviron's transformation as a fitness brand.

What happened

Aviron, which makes a connected rowing machine that starts at about $1,800, is taking a more sustainable growth approach than counterparts like Peloton.

Why it matters

The company launched a couple of years before the pandemic hit. The focus was on bootstrapping and slowly building a business via B-to-B sales from wholesalers that would sell to hotels and other large businesses. But then the pandemic hit and the company had to switch its business model. While it did lose money during the first half of 2020, Aviron was able to completely transform itself into a DTC fitness brand — and has been seeing growth ever since.

Founder and CEO Andy Hoang joined the Modern Retail Podcast this week and spoke about Aviron’s transformation as a fitness brand.

One of the ways Aviron was really able to hit its stride was by joining Y Combinator in 2021. Up until then, the company had been mostly bootstrapped. That wasn’t by choice, but because Hoang had yet to find an investor to take the leap. But, according to Hoang, the industry cachet the accelerator program provides really paves the way for future investments.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Modern Retail on 2023-03-02. The original report is linked below.