Zwift acquires running tech biz Milestone Sports

Online training platform Zwift has acquired the commercial rights to manufacture and distribute footpods previously manufactured under the Milestone Sports brand.

As part of the deal, Zwift has secured the core team responsible for the design and engineering of the legacy Milestone product – including ex-Milestone CEO, Jason Kaplan, Chief Technical Officer, Meir Machlin and Tzach Goren, former VP of Business Development. Zwift intends to start producing new pods imminently for its running experience.

Running footpods provide an entry point into the world of virtual running on Zwift and allow ‘Zwifters’ to run in any gym, on any treadmill, anywhere. By simply clipping a footpod to their existing running shoes, runners can communicate speed and cadence to the Zwift platform powering their avatar through a rich virtual environment.

“Footpods though, are not only a great asset to runners indoors.” says Jason Kaplan, now Director of Enabling Products & Business Development at Zwift. “Not only do they provide connectivity to Zwift on any treadmill, but they also provide the outdoor runner with important metrics such foot strike and rate of impact along with run distance and duration. These are not only great tools that help to refine running technique, but also help provide runners with important information that can improve performance, reduce injury risk, and make sure they are in the proper shoe.”

Zwift now aims to produce a new footpod model, which will be more “Zwift-centric,” focused on improving the indoor running experience. The new Zwift footpod will be a refined version of the legacy MilestonePod, with enhanced technology and a more responsive feel for both indoor and outdoor experience.

“This is an important step for us as we move into the running space.” says Eric Min, Zwift Co-Founder and CEO. “We at Zwift aim to help more people to exercise more often than they may have done before, by bringing more entertainment and social connectivity to the convenience of indoor training. We are determined, as much as ever before, to continue work with existing footpod and treadmill manufacturers to help us achieve this goal by providing customers the best possible experiences to suit their individual training needs.”

MilestonePods are now back in production and being shipped to distribution channels.

Zwift officially launched running on Zwift in February 2018 as a free access product. To date, Zwifters have completed over 125,000 runs, logging in excess of 560,000 miles.

Zwift’s cycling experience is distributed in retail packages in the UK via Madison