Reluctant gym-goers help push KC’s OYO to $4.4M in pre-sales for latest home fitness device

A month after breaking records as the most-funded fitness product in Kickstarter history, the KC-created OYO Nova Gym closed its crowdfunding campaign with $4.4 million in pre-sales.

OYO Fitness team: Nick Bolton, fitness director; Paul Francis, founder and CEO; Sonya Andrews, art director; Graham Ripple, chief operations officer; Marcus Sy, manufacturing director (not pictured)

“To say that it exceeded our expectations is a total understatement,” said Graham Ripple, COO of OYO Fitness, the Kansas City-based startup behind the handheld home gym product.

The pre-sales haul for the Nova Gym was nearly $3 million more than the previous most-funded fitness product — an initial milestone passed in less than two weeks — and established the OYO device as the 35th all-time most-funded campaign in Kickstarter’s 11 years in the crowdfunding game.

The public’s hunger for an alternative to gym membership in the era of COVID-19 likely played a role in the Nova Gym’s runaway success, said Paul Francis, founder, inventor and CEO of OYO Fitness. More than 26,199 backers contributed to the pre-sales count for the On-Your-Own option.

“With the new paradigm, folks are seeking solutions to keep fit at home, or on-the-go, and away from the traditional gym setting,” he said. “Many are finding that OYO Fitness products, including the NOVA Gym, fit their lifestyle and produces real results.”

Click here to pre-order the OYO Nova Gym via Indiegogo.

OYO Nova Gym by OYO Fitness

Building upon the success of Francis’ original OYO Personal Gym, the Nova Gym offers higher resistance with the same patented SpiraFlex resistance technology used by NASA astronauts for almost 10 years in space.

Its 40 pounds of resistance duplicates the benefits of weights, without the weight, in all planes of movement, according to the company. It’s a full gym that fits in the hands, providing more than 100 exercises for chest, back, arms, core and legs — yet weighs less than 2.5 pounds and folds up to go anywhere.

Click here to learn more about OYO Fitness.

Francis also licensed SpiraFlex technology to Nautilus Inc. and helped develop the Bowflex Revolution home gym, which is one of the best-selling home gyms of all time.

Click here to read about Paul Francis induction into the Space Technology Hall of Fame.