Lululemon buys home fitness startup Mirror for $0.5 billion

Late last year, we wrote about Mirror, when the fitness tech startup founded by Harvard grad, raised $34 million to revolutionize the in-home fitness experience. Mirror is the world’s first nearly invisible, interactive home gym featuring live and on-demand fitness classes in a variety of workout genre.

Today, Lululemon athletica announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MIRROR for a purchase price of $500 million. The acquisition of MIRROR positions lululemon to accelerate its vision and build upon an ecosystem that will fuel the Company’s Power of Three growth plan, which includes driving the business through omni guest experiences. MIRROR will bolster the company’s digital sweatlife offerings and bring immersive and personalized in-home sweat, and mindfulness solutions to new and existing lululemon guests.

Founded in 2016 by Harvard grad Brynn Putnam, creator of Refine Method, named “New York’s Smartest Workout,” the New York City-based MIRROR is a leading in-home fitness company that created an interactive workout platform that features live and on-demand classes. The fitness startup is creating a new category of in-home fitness with cutting-edge hardware, responsive software, and best-in-class content to provide a uniquely immersive, and personalized workout experience. For the first time, the essential components of a great studio workout – variety, personalization, and community – are brought to the most convenient place: the home.

Commenting on the acquisition, Calvin McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, said, “In 2019, we detailed our vision to be the experiential brand that ignites a community of people living the sweatlife through sweat, grow and connect. The acquisition of MIRROR is an exciting opportunity to build upon that vision, enhance our digital and interactive capabilities, and deepen our roots in the sweatlife. We look forward to learning from and working with Brynn Putnam and the team at MIRROR to accelerate the growth of personalized in-home fitness.”

MIRROR offers weekly live classes and thousands of on-demand workouts as well as immersive one-on-one personal training. MIRROR has seen rapid growth and strong engagement since it launched in 2018 as demand for in-home fitness offerings continue to increase significantly.

This transaction builds on a successful partnership between the two companies, which began in mid-2019 with an initial investment in MIRROR by lululemon, and also includes a content partnership which brought sweat and meditation classes to the MIRROR platform by lululemon’s Global Ambassadors. This acquisition will further expand the content creation partnership between the two brands and will help lululemon, MIRROR and lululemon Ambassadors reach new guests.

“We are thrilled to officially become a part of the lululemon family. As part of lululemon, MIRROR can further strengthen its position and accelerate its growth by leveraging lululemon’s deep relationships with its guests, ambassadors and communities, as well as the company’s infrastructure, including its store network and ecommerce channels, to acquire new users,” Ms. Putnam, founder and chief executive officer of MIRROR, and a former lululemon Ambassador, said.

lululemon athletica is a healthy lifestyle inspired athletic apparel company for yoga, running, training, and most other sweaty pursuits, creating transformational products and experiences which enable people to live a life they love. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, lululemon works with yogis and athletes in local communities for continuous research and product feedback.