Strava CEO Confirms IPO Intentions Amid Social Fitness Boom
Michael Martin revealed that the social fitness platform intends to go public, with a listing that could come as soon as 2026
It looks like Strava is continuing to set itself up for a robust public offering, after its CEO Michael Martin confirmed to the Financial Times that the social fitness platform has an “intention to go public at some point.”
The San Francisco-based company reportedly invited Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley to pitch for roles in its IPO in September, with Reuters also reporting that a listing could arrive as early as 2026.
A listing “provides easy access to capital in case we wanted to do more and bigger acquisitions,” Martin said. He did not, however, give a timeline for its IPO plans.
The popular social fitness app’s investors include Sequoia Capital and Jackson Square Ventures. After concluding a funding round in May, Strava was valued at $2.2 billion, according to PitchBook.
As the demand for social fitness grows, Strava is far ahead of exercise-tracking competitors like Garmin Connect and Nike Run Club, counting over 150 million athletes across 185 countries.
Consumers are estimated to have spent over $180 million on Strava’s premium subscription through September (the company says that is a significant underestimate, however), according to Sensor Tower. The company also recently acquired AI-powered run coach app Runna, while investing heavily in other product features, including AI-powered route recommendations, Points of Interest for athletes to tap into and performance tools like expanded Live Segments.
Strava’s ambitious growth also comes at a contentious time with its competitor (and partner) Garmin. As it has geared up for its IPO, Strava filed a lawsuit against Garmin, accusing the wearable device company of infringing on Strava patents covering segment matching and popularity-based routing.
Additionally, Strava claimed that Garmin overstepped a Master Cooperation Agreement from 2015 that permitted Strava “Segments” to appear on Garmin devices under strict conditions. Segments is one of Strava’s most notable features, with user-defined stretches of road or trail where athletes can log their times and compare their performance against themselves and others.