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EXO pays gym-goers in coins redeemable for brand discounts – turning fitness habits into an ad network.
ENTRY ANGLES
Build a rewards-for-everyday-behavior service targeting a specific audience with measurable behaviors · Use partner-led distribution through organizations (employers, fitness clubs, etc.) rather than direct user acquisition · Combine audience + behavior + brand partner access to create a scalable rewards marketplace
VERTICALS
CAPABILITIES
Ability to identify and target niche audiences where rewards have meaningful value, Partner relationship management and sales to attract brand sponsors, Behavioral tracking and measurement systems
"Your sweat is worth money," says EXO. To prove it, the startup built an app that rewards people for time spent at the gym.
Rewards are available only at EXO partner fitness clubs. When you visit a participating location, you scan a QR code in the EXO app.
Each visit earns one Exocoin, deposited to the user's account.
Accumulated coins can be redeemed for rewards from a catalog – which is really a collection of discount vouchers and perks from brand partners. Current partners include activewear brands (Lululemon), fitness tech (Garmin), and sports nutrition (Myprotein).
Brands can target their reward offers by demographic and behavioral criteria, so their promotions reach the audience they actually care about.
For those brands, EXO is a performance marketing channel – the discounts are the cost of entry, and the rewards catalog is the placement. Brands presumably pay for catalog inclusion and a commission on resulting purchases.
EXO is also active on social media, building communities around its users, and it promises brands exposure within those communities as well.
For fitness clubs, the EXO integration is another hook for attracting and retaining members. The startup claims it drives not just direct acquisition, but word-of-mouth referrals and a lift in positive online reviews.
Founded in France last year, EXO has signed up 300 fitness club locations, reached 80,000 club members through the app, and seen 30,000 rewards redeemed. The startup has now raised its first funding: €1 million.
Traditional advertising keeps getting more expensive and less effective. So sellers keep hunting for new channels – and a batch of startups have emerged around a model that might be called "rewards for doing nothing special."
The idea: let brands offer discounts in exchange for things people already do, rather than asking them to do something extra. It's conceptually similar to handing out coupon flyers on the street – except the flyer approach is untargeted, reaches the wrong people, and cheapens the brand. When a reward is delivered in exchange for a completed action, the perceived value stays intact. And requiring users to create an account gives brands the data needed to apply real targeting.
EXO is one of several startups executing this model:
Miles rewards users for their everyday commutes and travel. Points vary based on distance and mode of transport – walking, running, cycling, driving. Rewards are discounts and offers from businesses along users' regular routes. The startup raised $19.9 million.
Filtroo, [covered in March](/review/dlja-99-ot-5-milliardov-chelovek), rewards users for viewing, liking, and sharing social media posts. Users connect their social accounts, the platform tracks activity and credits points automatically, which can be exchanged for gift cards from brand partners. First-round raise: €1 million.
Matera, [covered in May](/review/za-prosto-tak-jeto-sposob-zarabotat), uses the same account-linking approach but rewards users for *publishing* social posts rather than consuming them. First-round raise: $3.6 million – probably higher than Filtroo's because creating content is harder than scrolling through it.
Salt Labs, [covered here](/review/dlja-posetitelej-est-a-dlja-sotrudnikov-net) last year, earned hourly workers additional rewards on top of their wages, credited per hour worked through an employer-connected integration. The startup raised $18 million – and was acquired by the banking app Chime late last month. Terms weren't disclosed, but exiting within two years of founding is a respectable outcome.
The model isn't foolproof, though. Mereat, [covered last spring](/review/neozhidanno-deshjovyj-sposob-privlechenija), tried the same rewards approach for restaurant visits and food orders – and ultimately shut down.
That said, the model is genuinely viable. Sellers really are looking for new channels, and people really do love getting something for nothing. When someone earns a bonus reward for behavior they were going to exhibit anyway, that's about as close to "free" as it gets.
The direction: build a rewards-for-everyday-behavior service around the right combination of audience, activity, and brand partners.
The key variables: - Pick an audience for whom the rewards will carry real meaning - Identify a frequent, measurable behavior to reward - Grow the audience aggressively - Attract brand partners who want access to that audience
For scalable audience growth, partner-led distribution is more efficient than direct. Salt Labs acquired users through employers who had strong reasons to offer workers a little extra on top of hourly pay. EXO acquires users through fitness clubs that want to reward members' loyalty with perks at no direct cost to the club.
Which audience would you target, and what behavior would you reward? Work backwards from there – the brands willing to pay for access to that group will become obvious once the audience is real.