Days after securing ₹440 Cr in a Series G funding round, fitness unicorn CureFit has added four independent directors to its board as it prepares for a potential IPO.
The newly appointed directors are Kalpana Morparia, former chairman of JPMorgan South and Southeast Asia; Arun M. Kumar, managing partner of Celesta Capital; Indu Bhushan, former IAS officer and CEO of Ayushman Bharat; and Pragya Misra, head of strategy and global affairs for OpenAI in India.
Morparia previously served as chairman at JPMorgan South and Southeast Asia for 17 years and has also worked with ICICI Bank. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri award.
Before joining Celesta Capital in 2022, Kumar was the chairman and CEO of KPMG India. He also held a senior role in former US President Barack Obama’s administration as assistant secretary of commerce for global markets.
Bhushan brings four decades of experience in the economy, policy, and healthcare sectors. He served as the CEO of ‘Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’ for nearly three years. Additionally, he worked with the World Bank Group as a senior economist and as the director general of the East Asia Department at the Asian Development Bank.
Misra’s background includes experience in communication and public affairs at tech companies such as WhatsApp and Truecaller.
CureFit chairman and founder Mukesh Bansal stated that as organizations grow in scale and complexity, strong governance and clarity of thought become increasingly important. He added that the company has been thoughtful about onboarding independent voices who bring rigor, accountability, and a wider institutional perspective to the board.
The appointment of the new directors comes as CureFit considers its public market debut. The company has reportedly shortlisted Axis Capital, Jefferies, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JM Financial as bankers for its potential ₹2,500 Cr public offering.
Founded in 2016 by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, CureFit operates the physical fitness platform Cult.fit, offering gym subscriptions through self-owned gyms, franchised gyms, and a marketplace model. It has 700 gyms under the Cult.fit umbrella and operates in over 40 cities. To date, the startup has raised more than $660 Mn from investors including Zomato, Tata Digital, Temasek, Accel, Kalaari Capital, and Chiratae Ventures. CureFit achieved unicorn status in 2021.
Financially, the company reduced its net loss by 83% to ₹483 Cr in FY25, compared to ₹888 Cr in the previous financial year. Operating revenue increased by 31% to ₹1,215 Cr from ₹926.6 Cr in FY24.
About the Author
