Jay-Z Gets In On the At-Home Fitness Movement

LIT Method is less than a year old, but it just received a big-name investment from Marcy Venture Partners, the VC firm co-founded by Jay-Z.

The company focuses on low-impact training (hence, the name), eschewing weights, running, and jumping for rowing, resistance training, and pilates methods. 

LIT Method is the rapper and business mogul’s second investment in connected fitness in the last half-year: In November, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic joined Marcy Venture Partners to invest in CLMBR, a connected climbing machine and workout class company.

Five-time MLB All-Star Adrian Gonzalez is also an investor in LIT.

Like Peloton, which has a partnership with Jay-Z’s wife Beyoncé, LIT offers a pricey product — the rowing machine costs $1,750 — and a $25 monthly subscription for streamed classes.

Though pandemic restrictions are lifting, at-home fitness investments have continued apace, particularly for companies that combine classes and workouts into a connected device.. 

• Tonal raised $250 million in March in a round that included Drew Brees, Maria Sharapova, Sue Bird, and Mike Tyson. Amazon and Steph Curry are previous investors.
• Lululemon acquired Mirror for $500 million in June 2020. Like Tonal, mirror streams classes through a wall-mounted screen for a monthly subscription.

Marcy Venture Partners has also invested in workout recovery device maker Therabody and data-driven primary care app K Health.

Jay-Z has been busy on the business front. In February, he sold half of his champagne line, Armand de Brignac, to LVMH. The following month, he sold a majority stake in streaming service Tidal to Square for $297 million, and inked super-agent Rich Paul to a book deal.