(October 28, 2025) From influencing tax policy to integrating wellness into national systems, Akshay Verma’s FITPASS has helped move the conversation “from gyms to governance.” After studying and working abroad, the entrepreneur returned home and has been working on the mission to move India from ‘sick-care to health-care’. He believes that even if a small part of the country embraces this philosophy, he would still be contributing to nation-building in the truest sense. Through FITPASS, Akshay aims to empower Indians to take charge of their well-being through accessible, affordable, and inclusive solutions and, in the process, help make India healthier.
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From a family conversation to India’s largest fitness ecosystem
Years ago, one evening over dinner, Akshay Verma and his mother found themselves deep in conversation about a growing concern: the rise of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and PCOS. His mother, a distinguished nanoscientist with a Ph.D. in diabetes and cancer research, spoke passionately about India’s health crisis and the urgent need for preventive care.
That conversation struck a chord. “It wasn’t just another family discussion,” recalls the 39-year old in a chat with Global Indian. “It was the moment my sister Arushi and I realised that fitness and wellness had to become a part of everyday life in India: not a privilege, but a priority.”
That realization would soon lead to the founding of FITPASS in 2015, a homegrown platform that has since grown into India’s largest integrated fitness and wellness ecosystem, empowering millions to live healthier, more active lives.
An expansive upbringing
Born in Bihar and raised across several Indian cities, Akshay’s childhood was shaped by constant movement, the inevitable rhythm of life as the son of an IAS officer. Adaptability, he says, became second nature. He shares, “My father’s career meant we were always on the move. It taught me how to find my footing in new environments, something that’s helped immensely as an entrepreneur.”
Education and service were core values in the Verma household. While his father’s life in public administration demonstrated integrity and responsibility, his mother’s pioneering work in nanoscience exposed him early to the world of health and research. Conversations at home often revolved around wellness, discipline, and preventive care: ideas that would later form the philosophical backbone of FITPASS.
At Delhi Public School, Akshay excelled both academically and in sports particularly football, which earned him a sports quota admission to St. Stephen’s College. There, he studied Mathematics, with ambitions to pursue Economics abroad. His academic diligence paid off when he became one of the few North Indian students to gain direct admission to the University of Oxford for a Master’s in Economics.
The entrepreneur reflects, “Growing up in a family that valued education and purpose instilled in me a belief that success should serve a larger goal. That sense of responsibility, to build something meaningful for India has stayed with me ever since.”
A global education and a lesson in leadership
After Oxford, Akshay continued his academic journey at Columbia University in New York. Turning down Harvard for Columbia, he was drawn to the city’s dynamism and its reflection of ‘the energy and complexity of real-world business.’
At Columbia, he served as President of the Student Government, an experience he calls transformative. “Leading such a diverse student body taught me that leadership isn’t about authority,” he says. “It’s about alignment. True leadership is about creating the space where every voice can be heard.” That lesson continues to guide him today. “At FITPASS, I try to lead by listening first, empowering teams, and building collaboration over control,” he adds. “It’s something Columbia ingrained deeply in me.”
Akshay Verma
From London’s financial world to India’s fitness revolution
Akshay’s professional journey began in private equity in London at the height of the global recession: a baptism by fire. He recalls, “Our team shrunk from 28 to seven overnight. Suddenly, I was involved in everything: documentation, diligence, deal structuring. It was intense but invaluable.”
Those years taught him to think in outcomes, and just effort. He says, “I learnt how to evaluate risk, make data-driven decisions, and structure systems that endure uncertainty. That outcome-driven mindset still shapes how I build and lead.”
Working closely with global companies also gave him perspective on scalability and culture. Outside the boardroom, he was struck by how fitness in the West wasn’t treated as luxury, but as necessity. His biggest takeaway from London: how fitness was a way of life that was woven into the city’s culture, supported by infrastructure, technology, and community. When he returned to India in 2013 on what was supposed to be a one-year sabbatical, that contrast became impossible to ignore.
FITPASS Co-founders Akshay and Arushi Verma
The homecoming
As he moved back home, Akshay found it surprisingly hard to stay active. “I loved running and working out,” he says, “but access to fitness was fragmented, rigid, and unnecessarily complicated.” His sister Arushi faced the same issue: she wanted variety and flexibility but found none. Together, they decided to act. “FITPASS wasn’t born out of a business plan. It was born from lived experience, the simple belief that fitness should be flexible, affordable, and accessible to everyone,” he notes.
In 2015, the siblings launched FITPASS, starting with 75 gyms across Delhi. The concept was revolutionary for India at the time, a single membership that allowed users to access multiple fitness centres, classes, and studios through a unified app. “What began as an app connecting people to gyms,” Akshay says, “has evolved into FITPASS 360: a holistic wellness ecosystem integrating workouts, nutrition, AI-led coaching, health check-ups, and medical consultations.”
Convincing a nation to move
In the early days, the challenges were immense. When FITPASS was launched, most Indian startups at the time were focused on addressing basic needs such as roti, kapda, makaan, and fitness was not yet viewed as an essential priority.
Convincing gym owners to join was an uphill battle. “Many feared aggregation would hurt their business,” he says. “But we proved it did the opposite: FITPASS helped them go digital, increase utilisation, and improve profits.” Consumers, too, had to be educated. He explains, “We broke away from rigid annual contracts. FITPASS made fitness adaptable to people’s lives, not the other way around.”
Through economic reforms, demonetisation, and even the pandemic, FITPASS stayed resilient, investing early in AI-led personalisation and continuing to expand. Today, with over 130 cities in its network, the fitness behemoth commands a 54% market share and continues to bring structured wellness to millions of Indians.
With India’s workforce averaging 28.5 years of age, FITPASS aims to empower young Indians to take charge of their health through accessible, affordable, and inclusive solutions. The platform’s expansion into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities has been especially meaningful. “Our mission is to make wellness a right, not a privilege,” he adds. “We see users in smaller towns now working out more consistently than those in metros. Fitness is no longer just an urban phenomenon: it’s becoming a national movement.” FITPASS’s corporate wellness platform, FITPASS Secure, is also transforming workplaces. By integrating fitness and wellness into company culture, it has helped employers reduce attrition by up to 46 percent while improving productivity and morale.
Shaping policy and perception
Beyond business growth, FITPASS has played a pivotal role in shaping India’s fitness landscape. “We were instrumental in bringing down the GST on fitness services: from 28 percent to 18 percent, and now to five percent,” Akshay explains. “That made structured exercise more affordable for millions.”
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The company also collaborated with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to integrate wellness into health insurance, a step that marked India’s shift from reactive to preventive care. More recently, they became the first fitness aggregator to be listed on Amazon, enabling subscription-based fitness access to millions. “It’s proof that fitness can now be as easy to buy as any essential service,” he smiles.
The clear shift in wellness trends also helped. In the last decade, young Indians see fitness not as aesthetics but as self-care and resilience. Despite abundant infrastructure, gym utilisation remains low: a sign of massive untapped potential. “With 1.4 billion people, even a 1 percent increase in fitness penetration equals 14 million new users,” he explains. “The real growth will come from the 99 percent who haven’t yet entered the ecosystem.”
Living the FITPASS philosophy
Fitness, for Akshay, is deeply personal. “I’ve always been active,” he says. “I enjoy strength training, functional workouts, and yoga, they keep me balanced physically and mentally.”
He follows what he calls the 6-7-8 mantra, a behavioural approach designed to build consistent habits: six workouts in the first month, seven in the second, and eight in the third: 21 sessions in 90 days. His philosophy: Real fitness is built through consistency and showing up. Looking forward, Akshay’s focus is clear: scaling FITPASS’s impact both geographically and digitally. Offline, the start-up continues to expand into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Digitally, its collaboration with Amazon has embedded FITPASS access within a 300 million-strong user base.
The company is also entering the D2C space with STOGA, a premium line of home-fitness equipment, and a soon-to-launch nutrition edibles brand designed for the modern Indian household.
FITPASS team
Beyond business
When he’s not building FITPASS, Akshay spends his time reading, travelling, and exploring new cuisines with family and friends. He also mentors young founders, sharing lessons from his own journey. He practices biohacking to optimize his health: from intermittent fasting to sleep tracking and nutrition experiments. “It’s about using data to enhance performance and energy,” he says.
Ten years after that pivotal dinner conversation, Akshay Verma’s vision remains clear and grounded in purpose. “Our mission has always been simple,” he says. “To help people become the best version of themselves: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Because when individuals thrive, India thrives.”
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