New Reality Show 'Unicorn Hunters' is All In on NYC-Based Fitness Tech Entrepreneur, Lauren Foundos
The show's "circle of money" judges unanimously threw their support behind Foundos and her company, FORTË, in its efforts to raise $20 million in venture capital funding
NEW YORK, June 13, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Lauren Foundos, founder and CEO of FORTË, is a unicorn in so many ways – she's a woman in tech, she's been a woman on Wall Street, and she's among less than 2% of high school athletes who've played at the NCAA Division 1 college level. Now, this dynamic New York City-based entrepreneur has yet another distinction – Foundos is the first participant and only woman to win unanimous support from an all-star panel of business gurus on the new reality show Unicorn Hunters. Click HERE to watch the full episode which went live this week on AmazonPrime Video, LinkedIn Broadcast, Facebook Video, YouTube and Vimeo.
Steve Wozniak (Co-founder of Apple), Lance Bass (singer, actor, producer and investor), Alex Konanykhin (CEO of TransparentBusiness), Rosa Gumataotao Rios (former Treasurer of the United States), Moe Vela (attorney, author, entrepreneur and former Director of Administration to Joe Biden), Silvina Moschini (Co-founder, Chairwoman and President of TransparentBusiness), and Scott Livingston (pre-IPO financing expert and Chairman/CEO of Livingston Securities) all pledged to invest in her fitness tech company, FORTË, which streams live and on-demand, cutting-edge fitness classes from some of the largest brands worldwide including Under Armour World Headquarters, NFL Players Association, UFC, YMCA and many others. The show gives qualified viewers access to pre-IPO investment opportunities from vetted high-potential startups including Lauren's.
"For the last year, [due to COVID-19], gyms around the world have been closed or forced to operate at reduced capacities making virtual offerings a must for gyms to connect to their communities. Even before the pandemic, gyms were wasting capacity, they have the content and community, but they lack the technical prowess to even begin building a digital platform," Foundos told the judges on the show which went live online May 24. "That's why I created FORTË. We have developed a fully automated proprietary hardware and software streaming solution for gyms to leverage."
The digital fitness opportunity is huge. Pre-pandemic, 67% of U.S. gymgoers said they worked out at home with a digital platform. Today, 83% of active Americans say they will continue to work out at home post-COVID.
FORTË's streaming system is customized and installed into partner studios, complete with automated cameras, mobile apps, digital music licensing, and more. The platform enables clients to seamlessly livestream classes, remain connected to millions of members in a virtual setting, and offer an incredible fitness experience from the comfort of home (or wherever participants choose to work out.) Founded in 2015, the company's signed or pilot customers account for 10 million of the 60 million gym goers in the United States alone.
"Lauren, you are the definition of a winner and I like winners," Bass said before pledging his support.
"You're already operational. You've got the hardware and software established. The engineering, I am in so much admiration of it, and I haven't heard of anything like what you have," Wozniak said. "I'm totally in. I'm committed."
Before launching her own business, Lauren spent a decade working on Wall Street, a majority of the time on the trading floor as an Institutional US Government Bond Broker at Whitaker Securities where she helped to dramatically increase UST Short Coupon and Bill desk revenues. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a bachelor's degree in communications and a concentration in business. Lauren is also a two-time all-American field hockey player who played Division I field hockey at Maryland, the nation's top ranked program.
Her reaction to the show and its outcome?
"To have everyone on the panel's support was really a super awesome experience," Foundos said. "Being featured on Unicorn Hunters is a huge opportunity to accelerate the business and let investors worldwide get in at the ground level. FORTË will certainly become a unicorn company – that, I'm certain of. I won't stop until it does."
To learn more about FORTË visit goforte.fit or to invest, visit: invest.goforte.fit
Media Contact
Lauren Foundos, FORTË, +1 5163763519, [email protected]
SOURCE FORTË
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