KC-based OYO Fitness closes a historically successful Kickstarter
February 24, 2017 | Bobby Burch
To say that OYO Fitness has a successful Kickstarter campaign would be an understatement.
The Kansas City-based fitness firm folded up and then crushed its recent crowdfunding effort, which raised a stunning $659,000 for its collapsible and compact exercise device. OYO’s DoubleFlex Black campaign — which snagged pre-orders from 4,200 backers — was the second most funded exercise product ever on Kickstarter. The product also raised more funds than 99.89 percent of all products ever offered on Kickstarter, the company said.
OYO CEO Paul Francis said he was thrilled to see such high demand.
“We were just blown away with the response from the marketplace,” Francis said in a release. “U.S. and international distributors are now working with OYO to get the DoubleFlex gym into everyone’s hands.”
Resembling a bendable, futuristic bow with a center wheel to create resistance, the DoubleFlex features technology that enables dozens of arm, leg and core exercises.
The 2-pound device — about the size of a loaf of bread when compact — creates resistance similar to a cable machine via the firm’s patented “SpiraFlex” technology. The tech uses coiled rubber-band-like straps within a removeable wheel that are then snapped into the center of the bow. Each wheel creates five- to 10-pounds of resistance, but weighs only a few ounces, enabling the device to have a low-profile and be lightweight.
The SpiraFlex was developed for NASA and is used by astronauts on the International Space Station. Francis said that the tech appealed to NASA for not only keeping space-dwellers fit but also as countermeasure for bone density and muscle mass loss while floating in the cosmos.
The company’s device also was in a recent episode of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. Musician Boy George, basketball hall-of-famer Lisa Leslie and former Queer Eye for the Straight Guy expert Carson Kressley each helped sell for OYO Fitness.
Francis previously said that he has ambitions to make the firm a $100 million company in the next three years.
Learn more about the device with the video below.
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