The smart home gym company joins F45, Hyperice, BODi and SoulCycle to expand consumer reach with pre-tax dollar savings accounts
Get healthier, save more money—that’s the idea behind Tempo’s new partnership with Flex, a provider of Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flex Savings Account (FSA) solutions. The partnership makes it easier for members of the AI virtual personal training program to use their HSA and FSA funds, making getting fit even more accessible.
Founded in 2015 and led by Moawia Eldeeb, the fitness company raised $220 million in a Series C round for its Tempo system in 2021. The home gym features smart weights equipped with AI sensors that provide real-time body shape feedback and uses AI and biometric data to create personalized routines.
Raechelle Hoki, vice president of marketing at Tempo, said the partnership with Flex provides a streamlined path for the personal training platform to accept HSA/FSA payments, reducing friction in Tempo’s sales pipeline.
Tap into a larger consumer base
“Initial testing has shown an encouraging improvement in our conversion rate after implementing the Flex payment method,” said Hoki. “We believe this comes not only from the increased payment flexibility we are able to offer our customers, but also from the added credibility that comes with our eligibility for these tax-advantaged payment methods.”
Flex currently works with more than 100 brands and offers two pathways for merchants: Product Verification, which identifies and processes items that meet all of the criteria (over-the-counter medications, menstrual products, and first aid supplies), and Health Check, which is available for brands selling dual-use items that qualify if the item is considered a medical necessity. Flex’s Health Check uses telemedicine and healthcare providers to determine if a consumer is eligible to purchase an item that can be paid for as a medical expense.
“speed This is a great example of how wellness brands can easily reach a larger market by expanding payment options.” elasticity “The health and fitness market is booming right now, and it’s a great time for brands like Tempo to win and retain customers who spend money on these services,” said CEO and co-founder Sam O’Keefe.
Fitness for the masses
This is the final consumer-friendly move by the smart home gym company, which launched a unique “gym refund” offer in April (in anticipation of tax season). For a limited time, Tempo offered to cover gym cancellation fees for users who signed up for its Tempo Training program. The deal encouraged fitness enthusiasts to see the bright side of at-home training programs, such as not having to travel to the gym or create a workout plan.
Tempo’s partnership with Flex highlights the home fitness brand’s commitment to accessibility, which Eldeeb, a former personal trainer who co-founded Tempo while a computer science major at Columbia University, mentioned in an exclusive interview with Athletech News last fall.
“Tempo’s mission has always been to make personal training and fitness more accessible, and a big inspiration for that goal was the impact personal training had on my life when I was young,” he said. “I was born in Egypt and moved to New York City when I was in third grade. When I was in middle school, my family was homeless, and the coaches at the local YMCA agreed to train me as long as I focused on my studies. It was with their help that I excelled in my studies and fully understood the impact fitness can have on a person.”
The experience left a lasting impression on Tempo’s CEO.
Eldeeb continued, “I realized that one-on-one, personalized training and coaching was out of reach for most people, so I sought to fill that gap by combining AI and weightlifting to create the only home fitness solution with a built-in personal trainer.”
Other Brands Leveraging HSA/FSA Dollars
As fitness, wellness and healthcare continue to converge, other leading brands in the fitness space have begun offering HSA/FSA options to find new consumers and lower prices in fitness and related areas such as recovery.
Last fall, recovery tech brand Hyperice partnered with Sika Health so that HSA/FSA funds could be used to purchase its range of wellness brands (e.g., Hypervolt, Normatec, Venom, Hyperice X, etc.).
This year, Mark Wahlberg-backed F45 Training partnered with New York telehealth platform Dr. B so that F45 members can pay for functional fitness classes. Dr. B has also partnered with Xplor Mariana Tek, BODi, and SoulCycle to offer similar pre-tax coverage to make memberships and class fees easier and more affordable.
Better health for all
Supporters of using pre-tax health savings and spending accounts to pay for fitness and wellness, like Adam Zeitsif, president of the National Alliance for Health and Fitness, say it would be a game changer for Americans.
“We all know intuitively that regular exercise is an important pillar of healthy living, and science supports this,” Zeitsiff wrote. “Yet many Americans still lack access to fitness facilities, programs, and equipment.”
