Ethan Agarwal

Ethan Agarwal
Born1985
Montreal, Canada
NationalityAmerican
Alma materThe Harker School
Johns Hopkins University
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Entrepreneur, business executive

Ethan Atin Agarwal (born 1985) is an American entrepreneur known for founding the digital fitness company Aaptiv and co-founding the financial technology firm The Coterie.[1][2]

Early life and education

Agarwal was born in Montreal, Canada, and raised in Los Gatos, California. His father, Vinod K. Agarwal, was a professor of computer engineering and later founded LogicVision, a semiconductor company that went public on Nasdaq in October 2001.[3][4] Agarwal graduated from The Harker School in 2003.[5] He earned dual bachelor's degrees in economics and political science from Johns Hopkins University in 2006, graduating in three years. He was Executive Student Body President his final (junior) year.[6] He later received an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011.[7][8]

Career

Agarwal began his career as an investment banking analyst at Lehman Brothers in 2006. He later worked at LionEye Capital and McKinsey & Company.[9][10]

In 2015, Agarwal founded Aaptiv, an audio-based fitness platform offering guided workouts.[11][12][10][13] In 2016, the company raised $1.52 million in seed funding from Arena Ventures and Pear Ventures.[14][15] By 2017, Aaptiv reported over 200,000 users, a library of 2,500 classes.[16][17][18][19] That year, it was selected for Snapchat’s Snap Accelerate program.[20][21]

By 2018, Aaptiv had raised more than $52 million from investors including Insight Partners, Amazon Alexa Fund, Disney, and Warner Music Group.[22][23][24][25][26][27] The platform reportedly generated around $100 million in revenue and reached over one million paying members across 20 countries.[28] Agarwal stepped down as CEO in 2020 when the company was acquired by Pear Sports.[4]

In 2021, he co-founded The Coterie, a financial technology company focused on investment access and related services.[29][30][31] The company raised $52 million in funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, with additional backing from Initialized Capital, Gradient Ventures, and Pear VC.[28][32][33] As of 2022, The Coterie managed approximately $500 million in assets.[34][31]

Agarwal is also the founder and managing partner of DYA Capital, which took part in a $55 million land acquisition in Maricopa County, Arizona, related to data center development.[35][36]

He has spoken at industry events including CB Insights’ Future of Fintech, Web Summit, and the 2024 BFD Expert Voices panel.[37][38] He has appeared frequently on Bloomberg Technology and the podcast Okay, Computer to discuss trends in financial technology.[39][40]

Recognition

In 2017, Forbes included Aaptiv in its list of “Next Billion-Dollar Startups".[41] Aaptiv was recognized as one of the top 100 workplaces in New York City based on employee surveys.[42]

In 2023, Agarwal presented the VK Agarwal Innovation Award at the Johns Hopkins University FastForward U Demo Day.[43][44]

References

  1. ^ Gurkoff, Gene (2018-10-02). "Ethan Agarwal: Aaptiv's Founder Storming Fitness Apps". Charity Miles App. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  2. ^ "Ethan Agarwal". Pear VC. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  3. ^ "Vinod K. Agarwal". Semiconductor Engineering. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  4. ^ a b "This Is How Former Aaptiv CEO Ethan Agarwal Transform Fitness With AI". 2024-07-22. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  5. ^ Luo, Claire (2019-10-03). "Alumnus Ethan Agarwal '03 addresses CareerConnect group". The Harker School. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  6. ^ "Some final presidential remarks - Guest Column". The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. Retrieved 2025-07-13.
  7. ^ "Wharton Magazine" (PDF). Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Ethan Agarwal Biography". people.equilar.com. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  9. ^ "Ethan Agarwal - Co-Founder & CEO at The Coterie". THE ORG. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  10. ^ a b Peebles, Angelica (2018-06-18). "This fitness app wants you to have a personal trainer in your pocket". CNBC. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  11. ^ Gritters, Jenni (2021-03-12). "Fitness for Everyone, Everywhere". Johns Hopkins Magazine. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  12. ^ "Reinventions Of The Subscription Business Model". PYMNTS.com. 2025-07-11. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  13. ^ "Audio fitness app Aaptiv is headed for world domination". Fast Company. 2018-11-05. Archived from the original on 2022-07-06. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  14. ^ "Skyfit raises $1.52M Seed round from Arena Ventures and Pejman Mar Ventures". StartUp Beat. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  15. ^ "Skyfit Raises $1.52 Million Seed Round". citybuzz. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  16. ^ Konrad, Alex. "Fitness App Aaptiv Reached $20 Million In Revenue In Two Years -- And Just Raised Even More". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  17. ^ Bhardwaj, Prachi. "Aaptiv is the on-demand fitness app that lets you choose from 2,500 audio-guided classes — Here's how it works". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  18. ^ "Ethan Agarwal (Aaptiv)". Startup Grind. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  19. ^ Network, Founders (2018-02-01). "Growth Lessons from Ethan Agarwal". Founders Network. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  20. ^ Dua, Tanya. "Snapchat is cozying up to startups with a dedicated discount program for their advertising needs". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  21. ^ "Snapchat offers ad incentives for startups | WARC". www.warc.com. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  22. ^ "This NYC Startup Just Raised $22M to Fix The Most Common Mistake You Make While Working Out – AlleyWatch". Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  23. ^ "Aaptiv Closes Series C With $52M Raised To Date". citybuzz. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  24. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (2018-06-20). "Aaptiv raises $22M from Amazon, Disney and more for its "Netflix for fitness", now valued over $200M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  25. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (2020-04-14). "Fitness app Aaptiv raises from Insight Partners, launches Enterprise channel". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  26. ^ "Warner Music Group joins $22m funding round for digital fitness brand Aaptiv". Music Business Worldwide. 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  27. ^ "Amazon-Backed Fitness Startup Aaptiv Is Exploring a Sale". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  28. ^ a b Cremades, Alejandro. "In spite Of 120 Investor Rejections, This Entrepreneur Has Raised $100 Million, Started Two Companies And Already Sold One Of Them". Alejandro Cremades. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  29. ^ "The Coterie: Changing the Financial Landscape for Founders". View from Initialized. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  30. ^ Moriarty, George (2022-10-27). "Young, wealthy pros overturn traditional wealth management model". Axios. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  31. ^ a b "Andreessen Bets on The Coterie, Eyeing Tech's Young and Wealthy". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  32. ^ "Investing in The Coterie". Andreessen Horowitz. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  33. ^ "Aaptiv Closes Series C with $52m raised to date; Amazon Alexa Fund and Warner Music Group among new investors". BioSpace. 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  34. ^ "The Coterie eyes tech's young and wealthy". www.investmentnews.com. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  35. ^ Staff, B. E. X. (2025-06-04). "$51M Land Buy May Result in New West Valley Data Center". AZBEX. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  36. ^ "Arizona Is Becoming the AI Infrastructure Capital of the U.S." The Silicon Oasis. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  37. ^ Onsite, Insight (2018-03-22). "Growth Gurus: Aaptiv Founder & CEO Ethan Agarwal". Insight Partners. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  38. ^ "BFD Expert Voices - Fintech Deals". www.axios.com. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  39. ^ "The Coterie Wants to Improve Tools for Retail Investors". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  40. ^ "What's In Your Merger Agreement? with Trevor Marshall + Funders x Founder with Ajay Kamat & Ethan Agarwal - Risk Reversal". 2024-02-21. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  41. ^ Adams, Susan. "The Next Billion-Dollar Startups 2017". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-12.
  42. ^ Farber, Steve (2020-02-27). "Starting Up From The Ground Up With Ethan Agarwal Of Aaptiv". Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  43. ^ "Vectech Wins VK Agarwal Innovation Award". Vectech. Retrieved 2025-07-11.
  44. ^ Babcock, Stephen (2019-04-16). "Here's a look at 11 Johns Hopkins student startups working in health, VR and beverages". Technical.ly. Retrieved 2025-07-11.


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