Meta (Facebook) is buying Within, creators of the ‘Supernatural’ VR fitness app

A day after Facebook’s rebranding as Meta (and simultaneous and unceremonious dropping of the Oculus brand), the company announced that it is acquiring Within. The Los Angeles firm is the developer of Supernatural, a Beat Saber-style workout app, Supernatural has been one of the real success stories in virtual reality fitness, with movement-based high-impact cardio exercises.

It’s a sensible acquisition as the company looks to broaden its VR and other ambitions into a kind of metaverse. Supernatural was also, no doubt, a particularly hot commodity over the past year and a half as more people have looked at home solutions amid widespread gym closures and other workout constraints.

“We are excited because our partnership with Meta means we will have more resources to expand and bring you even more music, more creative ways to workout, more features and more social experiences for VR. And of course, we will still be launching new workouts every single day,” Within CEO Chris Milk and Head of Fitness Leanne Pedante wrote in a blog post.

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The company adds that its existing staff of coaches, choreographers and managers will remain on board after the acquisition. Supernatural will operate as part of Meta’s Reality Labs division.

“Together we will also explore ways we can enhance future hardware to support VR fitness apps, encouraging other developers to bring new fitness experiences to VR,” Meta’s VP of Play Jason Rubin wrote in a separate post. “We believe fitness will be a massive success in VR where multiple third party fitness apps can succeed.

Founded in 2015, Within has raised in excess of $50 million, including, most recently a $40 million Series B back in 2017. That round was led by Temasek and Emerson Collective. Other investors include Andreessen Horowitz, 21st Century Fox, Raine Ventures, WPP and Macro Ventures.

Financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed.