HYROX and XENOM Team Up as HYROX Eyes 2.2 Million Racers

HYROX’s founders just put their money behind a second fitness sport, and they told Reuters the first one is still growing fast.

The HYROX XENOM partnership

HYROX co-founders Christian Toetzke and Moritz Fürste have invested in XENOM and joined its board. The two companies also formed a strategic partnership covering marketing, event activation and education, according to Athletech News, which reported the deal on October 7. No financial terms were disclosed.

They join WndrCo, the US investment firm founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sujay Jaswa. Jaswa led XENOM’s $15 million seed round, Reuters reported on October 23.

The shared goal, in XENOM’s words: “making fitness the largest sport on earth.”

“We have always believed that fitness had the potential to become one of the largest sports in the world,” Toetzke said, per Rox Lyfe and Athletech News. “XENOM completes that picture with a standardized test of total fitness.”

What XENOM actually is

If HYROX is fitness racing for everyone, XENOM is aimed at the harder end of the gym.

	HYROX	XENOM
Format	8 × 1 km runs, 8 fixed stations	10 fixed events over two days
Tests	Running and functional strength-endurance	Max strength, gymnastics, aerobic capacity
Scoring	Finish time	Points (the Elite Performance Index)
Divisions	Open, Pro, Doubles, Relay	Elite, RX, Compete
Target athlete	Gym-goers and runners	More hardcore athletes, including CrossFitters

XENOM is the work of Keith Barlow, a PR executive who Athletech says helped drive HYROX’s success. Its first event was in Dallas in June 2026 with just over 400 athletes, then London with about 560. Miami follows in December, and the first full international season starts in 2027, opening in Málaga, Spain.

“You can’t overstate how beneficial it is to have this group of people around you,” Barlow said.

HYROX’s numbers: 2.2 million racers

The bigger news for HYROX fans came in the same Reuters interview. Fürste said HYROX is “planning to end up somewhere at 2.2 million participants for this running season” and projected about 2.5 million in calendar year 2027. In September, HYROX told Yahoo Finance it expected over 2 million this year.

Fürste named South America, Mexico and Central America as growth areas, and repeated the Olympic ambition, possibly for Brisbane 2032. “Is it super likely? I don’t know,” he told Reuters. Our business of HYROX story covers the ownership deal and the Olympic push.

What it means for you

• HYROX itself doesn’t change. The race format, rules and stations stay the same. XENOM is a separate company with its own events.
• Expect some crossover. A partnership on marketing, events and education suggests you may see XENOM at HYROX events or in HYROX gyms. Neither company has announced specific joint events.
• Strong lifters get a new stage. If heavy lifts and gymnastics are your thing, XENOM’s Dallas and Miami events show it is already racing in the US.
• Races will keep selling out. With participation still climbing, sign up early for HYROX Las Vegas and the other US races near you. See our 2026/27 season guide.