Adidas Runtastic

Adidas Runtastic was the adidas group’s digital fitness and sports-tracking business, built on the Austrian company Runtastic GmbH. Its origins lay in a project at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria that explored the tracking of sailboat races. The concept was subsequently adapted to the rapidly growing market for smartphone-based exercise monitoring. Runtastic was founded in 2009 in Pasching, Upper Austria, by Florian Gschwandtner, Christian Kaar, René Giretzlehner, and Alfred Luger. The company’s early proposition was straightforward but well suited to the capabilities of smartphones: applications used device functions such as GPS to record outdoor activities and present information including distance, duration, pace, speed, and routes. Running was the best-known use case, but the service also supported activities such as cycling and other forms of exercise. Audio guidance, synchronization with online services, social sharing, and related community functions helped turn the applications from simple logging tools into broader digital training companions. Runtastic expanded its portfolio as mobile health and fitness services became more established. In addition to activity tracking, its products incorporated training plans, workout content, progress monitoring, and social or motivational features. The business also became associated with fitness-related hardware and a wider ecosystem of digital services. Its applications received attention from technology publications and were discussed in books and professional literature about smartphone applications, mobile training, and ambient assisted living. Adidas announced in August 2015 that it would acquire Runtastic. The transaction was completed on 5 August 2015 for €220 million, a reported amount that included the 50.1 percent stake previously acquired by Axel Springer SE in 2013. The acquisition gave adidas complete ownership of Runtastic and strengthened the sportswear group’s direct digital relationship with consumers. Runtastic supplied an established technology platform, a user community, and expertise in using mobile data to support everyday exercise and structured training. By the beginning of 2019, the business was centered on two principal applications. In September 2019, the former Runtastic application was renamed Adidas Running, while the Results application became Adidas Training. This change placed the products more visibly inside the adidas brand architecture and linked the digital services with the company’s broader running, training, and sports-marketing activities. Adidas Running continued the core activity-tracking proposition, while Adidas Training focused more heavily on guided workouts and fitness content. The business later underwent substantial contraction and integration. In March 2023, 70 Runtastic employees were dismissed. In December 2023, adidas announced that the Adidas Training application would end by 31 March 2024. In September 2024, adidas stated that all 180 employees in Pasching, Vienna, and Salzburg would be let go by the middle of 2025, with future development of the Adidas Running application assigned to adidas offices in Herzogenaurach, Amsterdam, and Zaragoza. As of 1 July 2025, the operative business had either ceased or been transferred into adidas AG. Accordingly, Adidas Runtastic is best understood as a defunct standalone operating business whose technology and selected services were absorbed into adidas rather than as an independent continuing company.

The business that became Runtastic originated in an academic project at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria. The initial idea concerned tracking sailboat races, but the founders recognized that the same combination of location data, mobile computing, and activity statistics could serve runners and other recreational athletes. Florian Gschwandtner, Christian Kaar, René Giretzlehner, and Alfred Luger founded Runtastic in 2009 in Pasching, Upper Austria. Runtastic’s first major products were smartphone applications that used GPS and other device capabilities to record exercise. A user could start an activity, allow the phone to capture the route and movement data, and then review information such as distance, duration, pace, speed, and geographic path. The service supported running and cycling in particular, while also extending to other activities. Synchronization with online accounts enabled users to preserve their records, inspect progress over time, and share achievements with other people. The company developed beyond basic tracking by adding training plans, audio feedback, workout guidance, fitness content, and community features. These capabilities positioned Runtastic within the emerging digital-health and connected-fitness sector. Its products were reviewed by technology publications and referenced in literature concerning mobile applications, smartphone-supported exercise, social communication, and ambient assisted living. The company’s appeal came from combining a relatively accessible consumer application with data-driven motivation and structured training support. In 2013, Axel Springer SE acquired a 50.1 percent stake in Runtastic. Adidas subsequently announced the purchase of the company in August 2015 and completed the transaction on 5 August for €220 million. The consideration included the stake previously held by Axel Springer, giving adidas full ownership. Runtastic became part of adidas’s effort to expand digital engagement and connect its sports products and brand relationships with consumers’ everyday training behavior. The service portfolio was reorganized under adidas branding in 2019. At the start of that year, the business operated two principal applications. In September, the Runtastic app became Adidas Running and the Results app became Adidas Training. Adidas Running retained the established running and activity-recording focus, while Adidas Training emphasized exercise programs and guided fitness sessions. The renaming made the applications more visibly part of adidas’s consumer ecosystem. The standalone organization later contracted. Seventy employees were dismissed in March 2023, and adidas announced in December of that year that Adidas Training would be discontinued by the end of March 2024. In September 2024, adidas announced plans to release all 180 employees located in Pasching, Vienna, and Salzburg by mid-2025. Future Adidas Running development was to be handled from adidas locations in Herzogenaurach, Amsterdam, and Zaragoza. By 1 July 2025, operative activity had either ended or been moved into adidas AG. The history of Adidas Runtastic therefore concludes with the absorption of its remaining operations into its parent rather than the continuation of an independent Austrian digital-fitness company.

• 2025

  Standalone operations end or transfer to adidas

  [1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  By 1 July, the operative business has ceased or has been moved within adidas AG.

• 2024

  Adidas Training is discontinued

  [1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Adidas Training ends by 31 March following adidas’s December 2023 announcement.

• 2023

  Workforce reduction begins

  [1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Seventy employees are dismissed in March as the business is reorganized.

• 2019

  Applications are rebranded

  [1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  The Runtastic app becomes Adidas Running and the Results app becomes Adidas Training.

• 2015

  Adidas completes the acquisition

  [2]adidas to acquire Runtasticadidas-group.com

  Adidas purchases Runtastic for €220 million and becomes its full owner.

• 2013

  Axel Springer acquires a majority stake

  [1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Axel Springer SE acquires a 50.1 percent interest in Runtastic, later included in adidas’s full acquisition of the company.

• 2009

  Runtastic is founded in Austria

  [1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Florian Gschwandtner, Christian Kaar, René Giretzlehner, and Alfred Luger establish Runtastic in Pasching, Upper Austria, following an idea developed through a university project.

A consumer-facing digital fitness platform combining smartphone activity tracking, training guidance, exercise data, and social motivation, with a particular emphasis on running and everyday athletic participation.

• Running and activity-tracking application · 2009

  Runtastic

  Runtastic was the original flagship smartphone application. It used GPS and connected mobile functions to record running, cycling, and other activities, then presented information such as route, distance, duration, pace, and speed. Online synchronization, social sharing, audio feedback, and progress features helped turn an activity log into a broader training and motivation service.

• Running and sports-tracking application · 2019

  Adidas Running

  Adidas Running is the adidas-branded successor to the Runtastic application. Its proposition centers on recording runs and other workouts, displaying performance data, monitoring progress, and supporting training through digital guidance and motivational features. The service represents the continuation of Runtastic’s core mobile tracking technology within adidas’s digital sports ecosystem.

• Fitness and workout application

  Results

  Results was a Runtastic fitness application focused on structured workouts and exercise content rather than only outdoor activity recording. It supplied guided training functions for users seeking general fitness support and was renamed Adidas Training in 2019 as part of the adidas brand integration.

• Fitness and guided-workout application · 2019

  Adidas Training

  Adidas Training was the adidas-branded successor to Results. It focused on guided workouts, training plans, and fitness content for users exercising at home or in other everyday settings. Adidas announced its discontinuation in December 2023, and the application ended by 31 March 2024.

• 2024

  Adidas restructures Runtastic operationsStrategy

  Background

  Adidas reviewed the location and organization of digital product development after the contraction of the standalone Runtastic business.

  Action taken

  Adidas announced that all 180 employees in Pasching, Vienna, and Salzburg would be let go by mid-2025, while Adidas Running development would move to Herzogenaurach, Amsterdam, and Zaragoza.

  Aftermath

  The Austrian operating structure was dismantled and remaining product development was placed within adidas locations.

  Source

• 2023

  Adidas Training is discontinuedStrategy

  Background

  Adidas announced a reduction of the standalone Runtastic organization and a narrower focus for its digital fitness activities.

  Action taken

  Adidas announced on 8 December that Adidas Training would end by 31 March 2024.

  Aftermath

  The workout application was removed from the operating portfolio, leaving Adidas Running as the principal surviving Runtastic-derived service.

  Source

• 2019

  Runtastic applications are integrated into adidas brandingStrategy

  Background

  Adidas aimed to align its acquired digital fitness products more closely with the group’s consumer-facing brand architecture.

  Action taken

  The Runtastic application was renamed Adidas Running and Results was renamed Adidas Training.

  Aftermath

  The products became more clearly associated with adidas while retaining their distinct running, workout, and fitness functions.

  Source

• 2015

  Adidas acquires RuntasticM&A

  Background

  Adidas sought to strengthen its digital capabilities and deepen engagement with consumers in everyday exercise and training.

  Action taken

  Adidas purchased Runtastic for €220 million on 5 August 2015, including Axel Springer SE’s 50.1 percent stake acquired in 2013.

  Aftermath

  Runtastic became part of adidas’s digital fitness strategy and its applications were later incorporated more visibly into the adidas brand system.

  Acquisition consideration. €220 million (5 August 2015)

  Source

• 2025

  Adidas Runtastic operating business ends or moves into adidas AG[1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  As of 1 July 2025, the standalone operating business had ceased or its remaining activities had been transferred within adidas AG.

• 2024

  Adidas announces closure of Austrian Runtastic operations[1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Adidas said that all 180 employees in Pasching, Vienna, and Salzburg would be let go by mid-2025 and that Adidas Running development would move to other adidas offices.

• 2023

  Runtastic reduces workforce[1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Leadership change · Other

  Seventy Runtastic employees were dismissed in March as the business underwent restructuring.

• 2023

  Adidas Training app scheduled to end[1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  Adidas announced in December that the Adidas Training application would be discontinued by 31 March 2024.

• 2019

  Runtastic applications receive adidas brand names[1]Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  The Runtastic application was renamed Adidas Running and the Results application was renamed Adidas Training as part of a closer integration with adidas.

• 2015

  adidas announces acquisition of Runtastic[2]adidas to acquire Runtasticadidas-group.com

  M&A

  Adidas announced and completed the acquisition of Runtastic for €220 million, including Axel Springer SE’s previously acquired 50.1 percent stake.

1. 1Adidas Runtasticen.wikipedia.org
2. 2adidas to acquire Runtasticadidas-group.com