Meta Pushes Into VR Fitness with Within Acquisition

Fresh off its rebrand from Facebook, Meta announced last week it is acquiring VR fitness company Within.

Within makes VR workout app Supernatural, a subscription fitness app for Meta-owned Oculus Quest. The program offers coached workouts, games, music, and VR environments. On Oct. 26, it added boxing to its catalogue.

Within has raised $56.6 million, primarily from its most recent funding round, a $40 million Series B in July 2017. Temasek and Emerson Collective led the round, which was joined by WPP, Macro Ventures, and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, 21st Century Fox, and Raine Ventures.

The company also lists Endeavor-owned agency WME, LiveNation, and Vice among its investors.

“We believe fitness will be a massive success in VR,” Meta said in an announcement of the Within acquisition.

• Meta is believed to be working on a smart watch with movement and biometric-tracking capabilities.
• In June, the company acquired virtual esports company Big Box VR.
• It acquired Ready at Dawn, maker of movement-focused VR game series “Lone Echo,” in June 2020.
• In November 2019, it bought Beat Games, maker of the popular VR workout game “Beat Saber.”

Meta plans to release an Active Pack for its Oculus Quest 2 headset next year to make the hardware better suited to intense workouts.