ET Startup Awards 2026: Habuild leans on repeat users to expand beyond yoga into strength training, nutrition

This is part of a series of interviews with the winners of The Economic Times Startup Awards 2026.

Digital wellness platform Habuild, which started out offering free yoga sessions during Covid, has established a profitable business based largely on repeat-subscription, and expanded into strength training, nutrition, and AI-led meal planning, chief executive Saurabh Bothra told ET.

Founded by Saurabh and Trishala Bothra along with Anshul Agrawal in 2020, the platform has 690,000 active users and sees 50-55% repeat subscriptions among its annual members.


“While our subscriber renewals are at 50–55%, we also have an attendance of around 70%. Achieving this kind of attendance for online yoga classes isn't easy. When people genuinely get a lot of value from the programme, it drives word of mouth, retention, willingness to subscribe, and renewals,” said Saurabh Bothra.

The company faces competition from free workout content on YouTube and Instagram, along with a growing field of nutrition-tracking apps. Bothra argues that abundance, not scarcity, is the real barrier for users — with too many options, “there is so much information overload that people end up doing nothing.” He said Habuild's edge is accountability rather than content, which free platforms can't replicate.

Saurabh Bothra says the company has been profitable from day one. Habuild clocked revenues of Rs 112 crore in FY25, more than tripling from Rs 36 crore in FY24. Its net profit rose 237% on-year to Rs 57 crore in FY25, from Rs 16.9 crore in FY24.

Habuild won the Bootstrap Champ title at the ET Startup Awards 2026 for achieving sustainable growth without excessive marketing spends. Other winners in this category include the fintech Zerodha, SaaS firm Wingify, and consumer electronics player Noise..

Habuild's online-first model keeps its setup and operating costs low, helping the bootstrapped company maintain profitability while giving it the financial cushion to experiment with new wellness offerings and run free programmes at scale which act as a marketing tool, says Saurabh Bothra.

Around 90% of new users come through referrals, largely on WhatsApp, helping Habuild keep customer acquisition costs low despite operating in a category where digital fitness companies typically spend heavily on marketing.

User base expansion


The Nagpur-based company has expanded into strength training and other offerings, led by Trishala Bothra. It plans to add multilingual classes, additional trainers, and new verticals in food and sleep tracking over the next year.

The company expects its newer formats to help attract younger users. “The younger cohort is more likely to come through Trishala's programme, which has strength training, dance, and intense workouts,” Saurabh Bothra said.

Roughly 60% of Habuild's user base falls between 35 and 55, comprising largely women, with users under 35 accounting for about 20% of the total users.

AI initiatives

The company has also been experimenting with AI-led health tools as it plans to expand its user base. It has a 55-member tech and product team working on such health and nutrition tools, including Kitchen Saathi, a meal-planning app.

According to Saurabh Bothra, through these tools Habuild will help personalise nutrition at scale while maintaining strict guardrails to keep its AI focussed on health, food, and habit-building.

Since launch, over 20 million users have signed up for Habuild’s online yoga classes. It currently runs six or seven sessions a day; the first is conducted live while the rest are recordings.