The Czech investment group Pale Fire Capital is buying the Czech company VirtualTraining, which is behind the application for cycling training and running the Rouvy. The application is already worth tens of millions of dollars.
The Rouvy application simulates outdoor training on real-life routes and allows athletes to train virtually anytime, anywhere. In addition to the application, a smart trainer is needed for this. The application also simulates training, including load, altitude profile of the route and can take into account, for example, riding on a hook. It has the most users in the USA, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, France or Spain.
“As a user, I met Rouvy during the covid lockdown. I found out that this is a Czech project only after driving hundreds of kilometers in the virtual environment of the Alps and Italy. The ambition to reach the very top of the world and an extremely entertaining and positive product subsequently united us and resulted in close cooperation,” says Dušan Šenkypl, the founding partner of the Pale Fire Capital group.
Rouvy gradually wants to become the number one mobile application of virtual training for cyclists and runners and to exceed the two million mark of the community of active users in the perspective of five years. The world ranking of these applications is currently led by the American Zwift.
“From the beginning, we are motivated by the idea of a real cycling experience right at home. We are convinced that we offer an incredible experience and great fun, and we want to prove this to other advanced and occasional cyclists, triathletes and runners around the world, “says Petr Samek, head of VirtualTraining.
Rouvy is the second sports application in Pale Fire Capital’s portfolio in a short time. In May, the group invested tens of millions of crowns in the sports application Sportlito, which offers sports fans content through visual stories. The start-up, founded by former creative director of Livesport Antonín Parma, will use the investment to enter the global market.
