Rucking Deep Dive Part 2
Market Opportunities for Innovation and Investment
Welcome to Sweat Ventures. I write about M&A and Investment themes that catch my eye in Fitness, Outdoor Recreation, and Sports.
Introduction
In Part 1 of this series (Rucking Deep Dive Part 1), I discussed the origins of rucking as a fitness modality and the key factors contributing to its growth. In Part 2, I will look at the current market for rucking-related products and services and where I see opportunities for investment and innovation, along with mentioning some of the companies leading the way.
Inclusive Rucking Gear
Most rucks and weighted vests on the market today still reflect their military roots. Vests are often black, earth-toned, or camouflaged and resemble bulletproof vests. They are also predominantly designed for men.
Although appealing to some, there is an opportunity for equipment manufacturers and brand builders to develop weighted equipment that is more appealing to a broader audience.
GORUCK, for one, has taken this to heart and now offers lines of backpacks that are functional for everyday wear but still have the capacity to carry large weights. One can use their equipment to take a weighted plate on the go without looking like they are gearing up to storm the Capitol.
Aion is developing “micro-weighted clothing” rather than focusing on a stand-alone piece of weighted equipment. Although constrained in the amount of weight they can integrate, Aion offers perhaps the easiest way to incorporate weighted movement into day-to-day life.
Finally, Carry aims to bring women-specific weighted vests to market. Historically, brands (and research budgets) have largely neglected the unique needs of women, even though women own 85% of purchase decisions for their households. Ester Sedgwick, CEO and Founder of Carry, believes the market for weighted vests will reach $7.9B by 2030, and says that half of the search queries for vests on Amazon include the keyword “women.” Based on this assumption, Carry is designing weighted vests that are ergonomically designed with female body types in mind.
As the market matures, companies will have space to reimagine how people carry weight and develop products catering to more specific preferences and bodies.
Rucking Focused Events
As with any fitness trend, growth in participation will inevitably lead to demand for organized events and competitions. People want an outlet to measure progress and scratch the competitive itch.
Hyrox, the CrossFit Games, and DEKA emerged from the growth of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Ironman created the proving ground for long-distance triathlon.
Similar opportunities will exist for rucking. As interest in the modality grows, people will look for ways to test their ability.
Unsurprisingly, GORUCK has been a leader in the rucking live events space. These events are used to market their rucking products and develop a sense of community around the brand. GORUCK has a variety of event formats, including “City Rucks” (ranging from 3 miles to 50+ miles), the GORUCK Challenge (a team-building event led by special forces cadre), and the GORUCK games (an elite, invitation-only competition).
An emerging company in the events space is the Ruck Race League (RRL). RRL is a global, virtual, community-driven rucking competition. All races are completed remotely, and results are submitted to an online leaderboard. Each month, the RRL releases new rucking challenges, varying distance and weight requirements, and competitors submit their results to an online forum where you can stack up against others on the leaderboard. The company recently announced a collaboration with CrossFit and will host a community competition at the 2025 CrossFit Games.
There is still a relatively greenfield opportunity to develop events centered around rucking. Whether these are strength-based physical challenges, endurance-focused, or even simple, organized community rucks, people will seek ways to connect with others through a shared interest in the activity.
Rucking Focused Training
A final area for opportunity is the development of a training ecosystem around rucking. What I mean by this is that currently, if you want to get better at rucking, you go out and ruck. The simplicity of this is part of the appeal. But what if you live somewhere where weather or geography prevent year-round rucking? Or what if you want to improve your rucking ability before joining some of the local groups or competitions?
Sport science and training methodologies evolve as an activity gains popular appeal. Take training for a marathon as an example. Prior to the research and efforts to develop the training ecosystem around marathon running, one would simply run more miles or longer distances to prepare for the race. This changed in the 1960s through the Lydiard Revolution, with the introduction of periodization and aerobic base building. In the 1970s, the training became even more scientific, with VO2 Max Testing, Lactate Threshold Analysis, and Heart Rate Zone Training.
Training sophistication has evolved to the point today that the average weekend warrior training for a marathon has access to endless biometric data points through wearable devices and to world-class coaches through in-person and digital offerings.
This evolution has created a massive market around marathon training. Although race entries typically only cost ~$100-$300, many consumers spend upwards of $5,500 to train for a single race when considering equipment, coaching, travel, etc. Business models have been reimagined, and companies have been created on the backs of this ecosystem development.
The training ecosystem around rucking is still relatively undeveloped.
In April of this year, Equinox issued a press release announcing “Fully Vested”, which they proclaim is the “first-ever in-person and digital treadmill program centered around weighted vests.”
The class consists of a warm-up, a 25-minute segment of interval work using the weighted vest on high inclines, and then vest-free running to close out the class.
Equinox describes the class as “walking with an attitude and walking with greater purpose. In the end, we cracked the code on making walking not just cool, but edgy. That is hard to do.”
I anticipate that more incumbent fitness offering providers will find ways to reach their customers who are interested in developing rucking ability, and emerging companies will develop products and services based on the growing research of its benefits.
Conclusion
Rucking is still in its earliest stages of adoption, and as it continues to grow, entrepreneurs will find the space to carve out their niche for new and innovative products and services. Established fitness players will eye these startups as acquisition targets or look to develop their capabilities in-house. More inclusive rucking equipment, in-person rucking-focused events, and a rucking training ecosystem will be a few of the areas that I see growth potential.
In my final post of this series, I’ll conduct a Q&A with Ben Pfeffer, co-founder of the Austin Ruck Club, to understand his perspective on opportunities related to rucking.
Thanks, as always, for reading!