Strava Sets to Go Public! (How a "Jogging Thirst Trap" App Plans to Become a $2.2 Billion Payday)

Tech Founders: “We went to Harvard, and we were on the Rowing team…”

Wall Street: “Shut up and take my money” 

Strava, the fitness tracker app that turned jogging into a thirst trap… wants to test whether bankers can keep up with its pace. The San Francisco-based app, fresh off a $2.2B valuation, is reportedly speed-dialing Goldman, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley to underwrite an IPO as early as 2026. Bigly. 

(Source: Giphy) 

For those of you who quit cardio back in 2019 (like me), Strava is the app that lets 150M self-proclaimed “athletes” log workouts, stalk elite cyclists, and hand out digital pats-on-the-ass called “kudos.” It was peak pandemic-era crack… and when everyone suddenly had time to obsess over their 5K splits and compare themselves to elite athletes they'll never be.

(Source: Reuters) 

Which is why now, Strava’s founders, two ex-Harvard rowers who apparently miss suffering in public (NOT to be confused with Zuck’s best friends, the Winklevoss Twins)... want to row this thing into IPO waters. The company has been bulking up with acquisitions like Runna (a U.K. running app) and The Breakaway (a cycling trainer), slapped an ex-Nextdoor CFO on payroll (yes, the guy who got the “Karen police blotter” app public), and even brought in a Block alum who IPO’d back when everyone thought Square was a geometry problem.

And yet, Strava’s milestones are specifically aimed at proving the cult of sweaty narcissism is still monetizable. For instance, the app is already approaching $500 million in annual revenue and pushes AI-generated routes, tappable POIs, and Live Segments that let you see you’re still slower than some 47-year-old dentist in spandex. And its Runna spinoff now organizes races you can filter by tags like “dog-friendly.”

(Source: Giphy) 

With that said though, the risks… well, are pretty obvious. IPOs have been up one week and faceplanting the next. Meaning Strava’s $2.2B valuation is sexy next to, say, Peloton’s corpse… and if retail decides social fitness” sounds too much like “free beta testers for Garmin,” this listing could fall out of it’s a$$. 

The bright side here… is that if Strava goes public, you’ll be able to short your own cardio addiction. What a time to be alive, I tell ya. No, but in all seriousness… Strava is trying to turn digital high-fives into real cash. And if the IPO hits, every jogger in your neighborhood you despise might become even more insufferable. Until next time, friends… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News does not hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.