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The first time I saw an ad for mirror was on the Long Island Railroad. It was a poster ad on the wall of the train, and I think a few people had defaced the models, and therefore I thought the product was a joke. Since then, whenever I hear about Mirror, I think all the people who use it have unibrows, mustaches, and Michael Strahan gaps in their teeth.
Turns out, the joke is on me. Mirror just sold to Lululemon for $500 MILLION!!
Lululemon, the purveyor of expensive athleisure and activewear, is betting on the future of personalized remote exercise as a way to reach customers by acquiring Mirror, a home fitness start-up that sells a $1,495 wall-mounted machine for streaming workout classes.
The $500 million purchase, which Lululemon announced on Monday, is the company’s first acquisition and follows its $1 million investment in Mirror last year. It’s a coup for Mirror and its chief executive, Brynn Putnam, a former New York City Ballet dancer who introduced the product in 2018 and has raised $72 million from investors. Mirror charges customers $39 a month to stream its live or on-demand classes.
Mirror introduced their product in 2018. It took just two years (and a global pandemic that ended gyms forever) for them to sell for half a billion dollars. Honestly, golf clap. Congratulations to Brynn Putnam. That’s a pretty quick return on an idea. Harvard grad. Makes sense.
NEW: Lululemon is buying Mirror, the buzzy home fitness startup that sells a $1,495 wall-mounted product for streaming workout classes. The $500 million purchase is Lululemon's first acquisition & underscores its goal of being more than an apparel brand: https://t.co/OjEA0feZ8I
— Sapna Maheshwari (@sapna) June 29, 2020