Wellness Provider, Athletes’ Performance, receives $22.5 Million Investment Boost

By Kelvin Hosken, The Institute of HealthCare Consumerism

ABS Capital has made $22.5 million investment in Athletes’ Performance, joining Polaris Venture Partners, to help grow the company’s corporate wellness business Core Performance. Athletes’ Performance works with athletes, military and corporate personnel, to develop integrated training, nutrition, and physical therapy programs. This later stage investment is designed to help accelerate Core Performance’s innovation and advancement in the field of corporate wellness and human capital. This major financial investment also brings John Stobo, a managing general partner at ABS Capital, to the Athletes’ Performance’s board of directors.

"Athletes' Performance has all the ingredients of a great growth company--an established brand, market leadership and a strong management team--all with a significant market opportunity," said John Stobo of ABS Capital. "The Core Performance business is well-positioned to capitalize on companies' increased focus on proactive wellness programs that can improve employee productivity and retention, while reducing the cost of healthcare and absenteeism."

Corporate wellness programs benefit both the corporation, and the employees by improving employee engagement and boosting productivity. Core Performance is on the cutting edge of corporate wellness programs, with measurable results through personalized plans that help employees enrich their work, health, and lifestyle. Core Performance offers a large array of different ways for employees to get involved in the betterment of their own health, through web-based instruction and results tracking, advanced onsite fitness centers, workplace activation through health, and expert wellness coaches versed in Athletes’ Performance’s esteemed methodology. Personalized programs is where Core Performance stands apart within the industry. Core Performance’s Prescription Engine, a unique formula for developing personalize programs, takes an employee’s assessment results and 32,000 rules to create a unique and completely new workout every time the employee laces up their running shoes and train. This individualist approach produces medical-grade results, and using intelligence-based programming, Core Performance can track data in real-time and adapt to real-time inputs.

"Athletes' Performance has invested heavily in research and innovation to become the leader in elite and professional athlete training," said Mark Verstegen, founder and president of Athletes' Performance. "Now, recognizing the need for efficient, effective and engaging wellness solutions, Core Performance combines the applied research and development from AP with proprietary, prescriptive technology to optimize health for employees and companies alike."

As Athletes’ Performance continues to grow, they continue to push for greater involvement from businesses in the lives of their employees. The employee wellness industry is growing fast as businesses try to curb rising healthcare costs, and improve the productivity of employees. Investment in wellness programs is a sure fire way to lower the massive expense of health insurance, but also improve the lives of employees. New advancements in technology and a greater focus on preventative healthcare will only continue this trend of wellness programs, which is good news for companies like Athletes’ Performance.

"We want to lead the charge towards an emphasis shift from reactive to proactive health," said Dan Burns, CEO of Athletes' Performance and Core Performance. "Historically, while industry research has shown that corporate health centers can offer employers an immediate savings of 10 to 30 percent on healthcare costs, engagement and quantifiable results have been lacking. We have been able to demonstrate with our corporate clients that we can empower people to change their lives, and by equipping them with the right knowledge, tools, and support, we can create sustainable lifestyle change that delivers a far more powerful ROI to the company. The investment and support from ABS Capital will give us even more resources to ensure we leave no stone unturned in delivering unmatched outcomes to our clients."

Athletes’ Performance has global reach, with world wide consulting for athletes and different organizations. With four facilities operating in the United States, and a mark on the global wellness community, the future is bright for Athletes’ Performance. Core Performance has only been involved in the corporate wellness industry for two years, and already has instituted programs across the U.S. and has even reached as far as Europe, with Walgreens and Intel being among their many clients.