Cult.fit Files IPO Papers with SEBI; Plans ₹3,500–4,000 Crore Public Issue

Fitness and wellness giant Cult.fit has officially taken its first major step toward listing on the stock market by filing its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI. The initial public offering (IPO) is expected to target a total issue size of ₹3,500 crore to ₹4,000 crore, making it one of the most anticipated consumer internet public debuts of the year.

The company is timing its public entry to capture growing investor confidence as market demand shifts decisively toward preventive healthcare and wellness.

Breaking Down the Public Issue

The massive public offering will feature a two-pronged structural design:

• The Fresh Capital: A fresh issue of equity shares worth ₹950 crore. The capital raised from this portion will flow directly back into the company's balance sheet to drive aggressive future growth.

• The Offer for Sale (OFS): A major liquidity window of up to 178.6 million shares from existing institutional investors looking to capitalise on their early-stage bets. High-profile institutional backers offloading parts of their holdings include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek (via MacRitchie Investments), Accel India, Tata Digital, Chiratae Ventures, and Kalaari Capital. Co-founder Mukesh Bansal will also pull up to 1.6 crore shares out for sale.

Where Will the Capital Go?

Cult.fit has mapped out a highly structured roadmap for the ₹950 crore in fresh capital to expand its physical footprint and shore up its balance sheet:

• Setting Up Elite & Neo Hubs: The company will allocate ₹276.6 crore to build out brand new, company-owned physical fitness centres under its specialised "Cult Elite" and "Cult Neo" branding tiers.

• Settling Existing Leases: An allocation of ₹217.5 crore has been cleared strictly to clear lease, rental, and licensing liabilities across its operational facilities.

• Debt Elimination: To clean up its debt metrics ahead of trading, ₹120 crore will go toward the immediate prepayment or repayment of outstanding credit lines and borrowings.

• Brand Activation & Retail Expansion: The remaining capital will be funnelled into general corporate purposes, including ₹75 crore for large-scale marketing campaigns and ₹23.4 crore to launch exclusive offline retail outlets for its sports gear and apparel arm, Cultsport.

Financial Trajectory & Core Metrics

The public filing gives the market a transparent look into Cult.fit's rapidly improving economic engine. After spending years prioritising scale over margins, the company has managed a sharp financial turnaround.

Its operational revenue grew a stellar 41.6% year-on-year, jumping from ₹1,215.5 crore in FY25 to ₹1,720.6 crore in FY26. At the same time, the company successfully cut its net losses nearly in half, bringing them down from ₹480.8 crore to ₹251.9 crore. Crucially, the operational engine has turned positive, with an adjusted EBITDA of ₹144.8 crore in FY26 (an 8.41% margin) compared to an operational loss of ₹33.5 crore the previous year.

The underlying business relies on a beautifully balanced split revenue architecture:

The Revenue Engines: Core fitness services—including its massive network of 708 physical centers across 77 cities brought in 69.6% of total revenue at ₹1,197.8 crore, clocking a solid segment profit of ₹210.1 crore. Meanwhile, its rapidly expanding consumer products division (selling athleisure, footwear, and equipment via quick-commerce and marketplace channels) brought in the remaining 30.4% at ₹522.8 crore, narrowing its segment loss significantly down to ₹57.4 crore.

To secure an absolute clean bill of health regarding corporate governance ahead of trading, the startup has officially stacked its board with powerhouse independent directors. The new additions include veteran corporate banker Kalpana Morparia, former Ayushman Bharat CEO Indu Bhushan, and OpenAI's India public policy head Pragya Misra.