The smart home gym company joins F45, Hyperice, BODi and SoulCycle to broaden access to consumers with pre-tax dollar savings accounts

Better health, better wallet — that’s Tempo’s take on its new partnership with Flex, a Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flex Savings Accounts (FSA) solutions provider. The collaboration makes it easier for members of the AI virtual personal training program to use their HSA and FSA dollars, making fitness more accessible.

The fitness company, co-founded in 2015 and led by Moawia Eldeeb, raised $220 million in a Series C in 2021 for its Tempo system. The at-home gym includes smart weights featuring AI-powered sensors that deliver real-time form feedback and use AI and biometric data to create personalized daily workouts.

Tempo’s marketing VP, Raechelle Hoki, said the partnership with Flex has provided a streamlined path for the personal training platform to accept HSA/FSA payments, reducing friction in Tempo’s sales funnel.

Tapping Into a Larger Consumer Base

“Initial tests have shown encouraging improvement to our conversion rate after implementing the Flex payment option,” Hoki said. “We believe this comes not only from being able to offer more payment flexibility to our customers but also from the added credibility that comes from being eligible for these tax-advantaged payment types.”

Flex currently works with over 100 brands, offering two pathways for merchants: Product Verification, which identifies and processes items that are eligible for all (over-the-counter medications, menstrual products and first aid supplies) and Health Check, which is for brands selling dual-use items where items are eligible if they are deemed medically necessary. Flex’s Health Check uses telehealth and healthcare providers to determine if consumers qualify to make purchases that would be covered as medical expenses.

“Tempo is a great example of a wellness brand that can easily tap into a bigger market by expanding its payment options,” Flex CEO and co-founder Sam O’Keefe said. “With the wellness and fitness market booming right now, this is the perfect time for brands like Tempo to win and retain customers who have set money aside for these kinds of services.” 

Democratizing Fitness

It’s the last consumer-friendly move from the smart home gym company, which launched a unique ‘Fitness Refund’ in April (a nod to tax time). During the limited-time promotion, Tempo offered to cover gym cancellation fees in exchange for users signing up for its Tempo Training program. The deal encouraged fitness enthusiasts to look at the bright side of at-home training programs, such as the elimination of a commute to the gym or the need to plan a workout.

Tempo’s partnership with Flex underscores the at-home gym brand’s commitment to accessibility, which Eldeeb noted in an exclusive interview with Athletech News last fall. A former personal trainer, Eldeeb co-founded Tempo while attending Columbia as a computer science major.

“Our mission at Tempo has always been to make personal training and fitness more accessible, and the impact personal training had on my life when I was younger is a big inspiration for that,” he said. “I was born in Egypt and moved to New York City when I was in third grade. My family became homeless when I was in middle school, and the trainers at my local YMCA agreed to train me if I focused on school. It was with their help that I excelled academically and fully understood the impact fitness could have on someone.”

The experience left a significant impression on the Tempo CEO.

credit: Tempo

“I realized that one-on-one, personalized training and guidance was unattainable for most people, and sought to fill that gap by combining AI and weightlifting to create the only at-home fitness solution with a built-in personal trainer,” Eldeeb continued.

Other Brands Tap HSA/FSA Dollars 

As fitness, wellness and healthcare continue to converge, other leading names in fitness have begun offering HSA/FSA options to find new consumers and make fitness and related areas (like recovery) affordable.

Last fall, recovery technology brand Hyperice teamed with Sika Health, so its suite of wellness brands (such as Hypervolt, Normatec, Venom, Hyperice X and more) can be purchased using HSA/FSA funds.

This year, Mark Wahlberg-backed F45 Training teamed with New York-based telehealth platform Dr. B so F45 members could pay for their functional fitness classes. Dr. B also partnered with Xplor Mariana Tek, BODi and SoulCycle for similar pre-tax dollar coverage to make paying for memberships and classes easier and more accessible.

Better Health for All

Proponents of using pre-tax health savings and spending accounts to pay for fitness and wellness expenses, such as Adam Zeitsiff, chair of the National Health and Fitness Alliance, say it’s a game-changer for Americans.

“We all intuitively know that regular exercise is a vital pillar of a healthy life, and the science backs it up,” Zeitsiff wrote. “Yet, access to fitness facilities, programs, and equipment remains out of reach for many Americans.”

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