Meta (Facebook) buys Within, creators of the “Supernatural” VR fitness app – TechCrunch

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A day after Facebook rebranded as Meta (and the simultaneous and unceremonious abandonment of the Oculus brand), the company announced that it is acquiring Within. The Los Angeles-based company is the developer of Supernatural, a Beat Saber-style training app, Supernatural has been one of the true success stories in virtual reality fitness, featuring movement-based, high-impact cardio exercises.

It’s a sensible acquisition as the company seeks to broaden its virtual reality and other ambitions into a kind of metaverse. Supernatural has also, no doubt, been a particularly hot commodity over the past year and a half, as more and more people have been looking for home improvement solutions amid widespread gym closures and other training constraints.

“We are thrilled because our partnership with Meta means that we will have more resources to expand and offer you even more music, more creative ways to train, more features and more social experiences for virtual reality. And, of course, we’ll be rolling out new workouts every day anyway, ”Within CEO Chris Milk and head of fitness Leanne Pedante wrote in a blog post.

The company adds that its current staff of coaches, choreographers and managers will remain on board after the acquisition. Supernatural will operate as part of Meta’s Reality Labs division.

“Together we will also explore ways we can improve future hardware to support VR fitness apps, while encouraging other developers to bring new fitness experiences to VR,” Meta VP of Play Jason Rubin wrote in a separate post. “We believe fitness will be a huge success in VR, where more third-party fitness apps can be successful.

Founded in 2015, Within raised over $ 50 million, including most recently a $ 40 million B Series in 2017. That round was led by Temasek and Emerson Collective. Other investors include Andreessen Horowitz, 21st Century Fox, Raine Ventures, WPP, and Macro Ventures.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

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