Highly accomplished Woman Executive teams with Founder to take Home Fitness Company forward
The COVID-19 pandemic spawned a lot of change in people’s lives and routines. With almost all of America under lockdown, home fitness workouts replaced closed gyms, while also adding quality time to those no longer commuting. Tonal known for its intelligent home gym rode that wave and just recently took two major steps forward in a post-pandemic world.
The company announced the appointment of Krystal Zell as CEO and the closing of $130 million in funding. Zell follows Aly Orady, the company’s founder who moved to CTO, continuing his tech role that led to the founding of the company in 2105. Zell first joined Tonal in mid-2022 as President, bringing 20 years of experience in the retail and hospitality industries where she drove customer-centered growth in Home Depot and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
“I’m honored to be stepping into this new role during such an important inflection point in Tonal’s journey, and to steer Tonal into its next stage of growth with a reinvigorated member-first mindset,” said Zell. “With a robust financial foundation in place, the deep engagement of our members, and partnerships with our vendors, we look to the future with a clear line of focus on serving our members, deepening member engagement, and strengthening member loyalty.”
The California-based Tonal is positioned to be the “most advanced strength and personal training platform” through its use of its proprietary digital weight program, artificial intelligence, and expert-led coaching. The fitness company offers members over three thousand coach-led, on demand and live workouts across a number of fitness categories. As Tonal’s CEO, Zell has the confident support of Orady and key investors, enabling her to see a clear path forward for growth and profitability.
“As we embark upon this next stage of our journey, I am filled with confidence as I hand the reins over to Krystal. A proven executive at scale, Krystal is an exceptional collaborator and fierce advocate for our members, who is always putting customers at the center of our business,” said Orady. “I look forward to continuing our partnership as I focus on the next phase of technology and product development.”
The funding round through the company’s existing investors was led by private equity firm L Catterton, with Cobalt, Dragoneer, Kindred Ventures and THVC also participating. It is part of a broader recapitalization strategy that strengthens the Tonal’s balance sheet and accelerates its profitability, while strategically driving membership-focused growth.
Jon Owsley, Managing Partner at L Catterton’s Growth Fund, spoke on behalf of the investor group about Zell’s new position and the changes recently underway.
“We believe Tonal is truly unique in its ability to deliver an incredibly engaging technology-enabled personalized strength training experience easily accessible in the home. We look forward to continuing to support Tonal and are excited about the deep experience Krystal brings to the leadership team…,” said Owsley.
Tonal was launched in 2015 by Orady who is a 20-year Silicon Valley veteran, engineer and serial entrepreneur. Orady began his career at Hewlett-Packard’s Computer Systems Laboratory designing super-computers and then moved on to join a number of tech startups.
With additional foundation in place, Tonal is entering a new chapter with two strong leaders—working as a team to tackle critical areas of the company. A new CEO with a track record of building growth into established companies is working closely with its founder—keeping the company’s spirit of innovation and importantly driving its technology which energizes Tonal’s membership community.
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