Investment Ready Alumnus, Apex Rides, Raises £420,000 to Accelerate its App-First, Hardware-Agnostic Strategy

Overview

Apex Rides is a UK-based connected fitness platform delivering studioquality, instructor-led cycling workouts through a software-first approach. By working with any Bluetooth-enabled indoor bike, Apex removes hardware barriers and makes connected fitness more accessible, flexible, and inclusive.

Problem identification

Connected fitness has historically been dominated by hardware-first platforms, where premium experiences are locked behind expensive proprietary bikes and high monthly subscriptions. At the other end of the market, many fitness apps lack meaningful connectivity or long-term engagement. Apex Rides is addressing this gap by focusing on software rather than hardware.

Progress and partnerships

Originally launched with its own smart bike and companion app, Apex Rides is now becoming fully hardware-agnostic, enabling its immersive cycling experience to connect with any Bluetooth-enabled indoor bike using the FTMS standard. This approach removes the need for exclusive equipment, significantly expands the company’s addressable market, and positions Apex as a software layer for the rapidly growing global base of connected bikes.

The strategy is further underpinned by a strategic partnership with Johnson Health Tech, one of the world’s largest fitness equipment companies and the manufacturer behind brands such as Matrix and Schwinn. The partnership provides Apex with strategic distribution opportunities while allowing the platform to remain proudly hardware-agnostic.

Apex Rides raises £420,000 to accelerate its app-first, hardware-agnostic strategy

Apex Rides, the UK-based connected fitness platform, has raised £420,000 from a group of strategic angels and VCs to support product development and its transition to an open, app-first model.

The newly raised capital will be used to further invest in the Apex app, expand Bluetooth compatibility, and accelerate the company’s broader transition to an open connected-fitness ecosystem.

Simon Cook, Co-founder of Apex Rides, said:

“This funding supports a really important shift for Apex. By becoming hardware-agnostic, we’re removing one of the biggest barriers to connected fitness and opening the platform up to a much broader audience.”

“Alongside this, we’ve refreshed the brand to reflect our new direction and used customer feedback and data to design five new class formats that better serve an increasingly diverse user base.”

“Our focus remains on building great software and world-class content, and this investment allows us to accelerate product development while staying true to that vision."