Keep Founder Wang Ning: Profitability ‘No Accident,’ AI Poised to Unlock 10x Growth
Want to read in a language you're more familiar with? Please click the pink icon below for one-click AIPlease click the pink icon top right for one-click AI translation
Keep, China’s leading fitness tech platform founded in 2014, achieves profitability and bets on AI to drive 10x growth by transforming into a personalized, data-driven service.
Introduction
Keep, one of China’s leading fitness technology brands, was founded in 2014 by Wang Ning (note: not the same Wang Ning who founded Pop Mart). As the country’s largest online fitness platform, Keep generates revenue from memberships, courses, e-commerce, and advertising. The company reached around 30 million monthly active users (MAUs) in 2022–2023 and went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2023, becoming the first listed fitness tech company in China.
Main Body
Chinese fitness tech giant Keep held its first all-hands meeting since achieving profitability, where founder Wang Ning attributed the milestone to “high-quality business growth” and the elimination of underperforming segments. He described it as “cutting fat and building muscle,” emphasizing that profitability is sustainable and not accidental.
Keep reported an adjusted net profit of ~RMB 10 million (non-IFRS) for H1 2025. Following the announcement, its Hong Kong-listed shares rose nearly 5% to HK$5.9, with trading volume exceeding HK$10 million. Wang reiterated Keep’s “all-in on AI” strategy, first announced in February. For a decade, Keep’s core strength has been fitness content, but this model faces user and revenue growth limits. AI, Wang said, breaks these barriers. It boosts content production efficiency, enabling Keep to offer niche categories like golf and tennis, previously constrained by costs, thus expanding its user base.
Currently, Keep’s membership ARPU is ~RMB 20, driven by content. AI coaches, however, shift the model to personalized services—offering interaction, emotional support, and tailored plans—potentially increasing ARPU tenfold. In March, Keep launched Kinetic.ai, a fitness-focused AI model, and its AI coach, Kaka, for customized training. A May 20 update added intelligent workout plans, real-time guidance, and nutrition tracking.
Looking ahead, Keep’s AI coaches will evolve into three tiers: general, personalized IP-based, and specialized (e.g., marathon, boxing). Each will have distinct pricing. “We’re transforming from a content-driven app to a data-driven service platform,” Wang said. Keep plans to launch its enhanced first-generation AI coach soon.
Source：Sina Finance
