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Massage Device Maker Hyperice Now Wants To Improve Athletes’ Mental Health, Too

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Hyperice CEO Jim Huether is investing aggressively in growth. Not only did Hyperice strike a multi-year partnership in March with the New York Yankees, but their massage products are spreading throughout the sports realm.

The black and white Hyperice colors made its motor sports debut by sponsoring Kaulig Racing and Kaz Grala in Nascar’s largest event, the Daytona 500. Now, the brand is using its marketing success to expand into a new space, the world of meditation.

Hyperice recently acquired Core, a mental wellness company that invented the first meditation training device and app of its kind. The move is one that Hyperice believes will pay off by quadrupling Core’s profits in 2021 and contributing to 10% of the company’s 2022 revenue. Hyperice plans to make a profit off the acquisition by the fourth quarter of this year.

“This is transformative for us,” Huether, who’s based in Irvine, said. “We had been looking at the mental wellness space for quite some time, given that we have a lot of professional athletes who have told us this is something important.

“We were looking for a way to enter the market and do it in a different. This helps us extend our vertical into this $4.2 billion mindfulness market that will be the next phase of recovery.”

This is Hyperice’s third acquisition in less than two years after acquiring Normatec and RecoverX

Core will sync into the HyperSmart ecosystem, measuring one’s heart rate, your breathing pattern and sensory elements. The firm believes that the Core sales will actually push for additional Hyperice massager sales.

“We sent the product to our lead scientists, and the response was incredible,” Huether said. “This allows us to really address a holistic approach around this with a healthy mind and healthy body.”

As part of the Core acquisition, Hyperice on boarded the team’s nine employees. Now, Hyperice has almost 200 employees, an increase from less than 40 people in 2019. Core founder and CEO Sarah McDevitt will lead Hyperice's new mind technology division.

At the time of the acquisition, Core was in the midst of a funding round at a post-money valuation of $40 million. By the early summer, Core raised $8 million year-to-date.

“We felt the combination would have a great impact and allow us to reach more consumers,” Huether said.

But thanks to Hyperice’s recent announcement, the CEO already noticed in an increase of sales for all of its products. Hyperice anticipates Core contributing to 10% of their revenue in 2022. They believe Core itself will grow 6X in 2022 compared to 2021.

“Because we have the distribution, the ecosystem, the brand, the retail partners, fitness tech partners and hospitality partners, we’re able to deliver this product quickly and effectively,” Huether said. “We’ve seen more sales in Core devices in three days since the acquisition than the 25 days prior to the acquisition.”

In 2020, Hyperice sales were more than $200 million. They expect this number to grow substantially in 2021, with predictions of a valuation of over $1 billion. With the Core acquisition, Hyperice believes it can grow exceptionally well by entering the meditation app space.

Core also has a monthly subscription model, which can provide reoccurring revenue for Hyperice going forward.

Huether plans to continue investing in marketing Hyperice as well. In September, he’ll attend his first Nascar race weekend with Kaulig Racing as their partnership continues to develop.

“Our brand has been authentically connected to sports since its founding,” Huether said. “Kobe Bryant was part of the initial product development for us. Our first purchase order was from the New York Jets in 2012.

“Sports marketing has been huge for us from an authenticity level. We can reach millions of consumers and educate them.”

Going forward, Hyperice expects to grow even more thanks to its entrance into the mental wellness space. By combining the two product lines, they want to become a one-stop-shop for both physical and mental fitness.

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