Portuguese interactive fitness technology company BHOUT is entering a new phase of international expansion, with its first significant health club chain rollout underway in Latin America, six additional Clubs under development in Portugal, and work beginning on its first opportunities in the U.S. hospitality sector.
“The biggest milestone is establishing BHOUT as an international B2B technology company,” founder and CEO Mauro Frota told Portugal Startup News when asked what BHOUT aims to achieve by the end of 2026.
Achieving that target means delivering its first international health club chain deployments, expanding manufacturing capacity, closing additional distribution agreements, and completing its first projects in new verticals such as hospitality.
Latin America is already becoming an important first region through BHOUT’s partnership with NEO, beginning in Chile, while the company is also developing opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
The expansion reflects an evolution in BHOUT’s model, from developing and validating the experience through its own Clubs to also deploying its technology through third-party operators. BHOUT currently operates six Clubs in Portugal, with another six under development.
Frota described the Clubs as the company’s “laboratory” and “proof of concept,” where thousands of workouts and continuous customer feedback allowed BHOUT to build and test the complete experience in the real world.
At the center of the system is the BHOUT Bag, which was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023. According to BHOUT’s website, its AI system combines sensor data with 3D computer vision. The computer vision identifies punches, kicks, elbows, and knee strikes, while sensors calculate the power of each strike.
The Club experience combines 45 minutes of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) across nine rounds of combat sports, strength training, and meditation, with the Bag, music, and lights synchronized throughout the session.
Frota sees BHOUT at the intersection of three trends shaping exergaming: gamification, AI and computer vision that can increasingly understand human movement, and the convergence of physical and digital experiences.
BHOUT’s technology analyzes movement across factors including force, speed, accuracy, fatigue, and biomechanics, with Frota saying its longer-term potential extends beyond the boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai experiences it supports today.
“The Bag is the physical interface, but BHOUT is much bigger than the Bag,” Frota said. “I don’t think of BHOUT primarily as an equipment company. I think of it as a physical intelligence and interactive fitness company.”
Read the full interview below for more on BHOUT’s international expansion, B2B strategy, scaling challenges, technology, what people still misunderstand about the company, and Frota’s view of the future of exergaming.
1- You have practiced martial arts for more than 30 years and worked in the fitness industry for over two decades. Based on that experience, what has still not changed in the industry that you are trying to solve with BHOUT today?
What has changed surprisingly little is the experience itself. We have better equipment, better facilities, and more data, but for most people exercise is still something they feel they have to do, rather than something they genuinely want to do.
At the same time, most fitness technology measures the consequences of movement – heart rate, calories, repetitions – rather than understanding the movement itself.
That is the problem we set out to solve with BHOUT: making exercise as engaging as playing a game, while developing technology capable of understanding human movement in real time.
Our belief is simple: we don’t work out, we play.
2- What are the top three things that make BHOUT’s technology and equipment different from what’s already on the market?
First, the technology actually understands physical movement. The BHOUT Bag measures force and speed in international units, strike location and accuracy, exertion, and biomechanical technique across boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai.
Second, we analyse technique in real time. In less than 300 milliseconds, the system can compare a user’s movement against biomechanical models developed using world-class athletes and provide immediate feedback.
Third, we combine that intelligence with gaming. We are not simply putting sensors on fitness equipment. We are building an interactive environment where technology, AI, content, and game mechanics turn physical effort into an immersive experience.
We call the underlying technology our Physical Intelligence Engine.
3- BHOUT has two main sides, the Bag and the Clubs. Which is the bigger focus for the company right now?
The technology is the core of the company.
The Clubs were extremely important because they allowed us to build and test the complete BHOUT experience in the real world, with thousands of workouts and continuous customer feedback.
They effectively became our laboratory and our proof of concept.
We are now entering another phase in which the technology developed inside those Clubs is becoming a product for the global fitness industry.
So our biggest growth opportunity today is B2B: supplying BHOUT technology to health-club chains, hospitality operators and international partners, while continuing to use the Clubs as the showcase for what the complete BHOUT experience can become.
4- Could you share some details about BHOUT’s business model?
We essentially have a technology business and an experience business.
On the technology side, we sell the BHOUT Bag and its associated software ecosystem to health clubs, operators, and other businesses. This creates both equipment revenue and recurring software revenue.
We are also developing distribution partnerships for different international markets.
On the Club side, we have our own locations as well as franchised clubs. A BHOUT Club combines our technology with a proprietary workout methodology, software, AI coaching, and gamification.
Over time, we see an increasingly asset-light model in which BHOUT’s technology can be deployed across thousands of third-party locations without BHOUT needing to own those locations.
5- Where do things currently stand with the production of the BHOUT Bag?
We have moved from development and validation into commercial production.
The product has gone through several generations, with major improvements in sensing, computer vision, biomechanics, and industrial design, and we are now scaling manufacturing for B2B deployments.
Our first significant international health-club-chain rollout is already underway in Latin America, and we are simultaneously progressing with distributors and operators in several other markets.
So the challenge has shifted. It is no longer primarily about proving that the technology works; it is about industrialising it reliably and at scale.
6- How many people are currently on the waiting list for the BHOUT Bag?
We receive around four new leads per day for B2B and B2C verticals, organically, and without paid media. And then we have strong spikes every time our product is featured by a famous YouTuber or influencer. We have collected a few thousand requests.
What is particularly interesting for us, however, is that demand has developed even before we have actively marketed the Bag as a standalone product.
We are receiving inbound interest from both consumers and businesses, while our immediate commercial priority is large-scale B2B deployment.
7- Will the Bag initially be available to individual customers, businesses, or both?
Both are part of the roadmap, but B2B comes first.
The economics are very compelling for health clubs because one BHOUT installation can create an entirely new interactive training experience inside an existing facility.
That allows us to scale much faster through operators that already have hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of members.
There is clearly consumer demand as well, and we intend to address that market, but our immediate focus is professional fitness, hospitality, and other B2B applications.
8- When do you expect to start shipping the Bag more broadly?
That process is already beginning.
The first B2B deployments outside Portugal are taking place this year, and our objective is to progressively increase production throughout the remainder of 2026 and into 2027.
Rather than launching simultaneously everywhere, we are deliberately scaling through selected operators and distribution partners so that manufacturing, installation, and after-sales support can grow together.
9- What will be the first markets outside Portugal where you plan to sell the Bag, and why did you choose them?
Latin America is already becoming an important first region for us through our partnership with NEO, beginning in Chile and with plans to expand into other countries in the region.
We are simultaneously developing opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
The United States is especially strategic because of the size and maturity of its fitness market, but also because we see applications beyond traditional health clubs. We are currently working on our first opportunities in the hospitality sector there, bringing BHOUT experiences into hotels.
Our market selection is therefore less about choosing countries sequentially and more about finding strong local operators capable of scaling the technology quickly.
10- What is the expected timeline for expanding into markets outside Portugal?
The internationalisation phase has already started.
During 2026 we expect the first meaningful B2B installations outside Portugal, together with the development of a distribution network across several markets.
From 2027 onwards, the objective is to accelerate that dramatically.
The important change is that historically BHOUT’s growth was connected to opening BHOUT Clubs. Now one partner can potentially deploy our technology across dozens or hundreds of existing locations, which completely changes the speed at which we can internationalize.
11- How many BHOUT Clubs are currently operating in total, in which cities, and how many people have used the BHOUT experience so far?
We currently have six BHOUT Clubs operating in Portugal, including both company-operated and franchised locations, while currently developing six more in Portugal. Lisbon and Porto remain the main hubs.
But for us, one of the most important indicators is not simply the number of people who have tried it, but how they respond afterwards. Our Clubs have achieved Net Promoter Scores above 90, which is an unusually high level of customer advocacy in fitness.
That gave us the confidence that the experience could travel beyond our own Clubs.
12- What does a gym need to do to become a BHOUT partner, and what are the main requirements?
It depends on the type of deployment.
A health club can integrate BHOUT technology into an existing facility without becoming a full BHOUT Club. We can create a BHOUT-powered zone using multiple Bags and our software platform.
The requirements are therefore relatively straightforward: sufficient space, connectivity, and an operator committed to delivering the experience properly.
For larger chains, we work more strategically, looking at integration, staff training, content, software, support, and the rollout plan across multiple clubs.
The idea is to make deploying BHOUT increasingly simple, almost like adding a new interactive fitness category to an existing health club.
13- What are the biggest challenges you are facing as you expand both the Bag and the Club business?
Scaling hardware is fundamentally different from scaling software.
You need manufacturing capacity, supply chains, quality control, installation, and after-sales support in every market.
At the same time, because our product combines hardware, computer vision, AI, and software, all of those elements must work seamlessly together.
The opportunity is enormous, but execution matters.
For that reason, we are being selective about partners and markets. We would rather build a scalable infrastructure correctly than create demand faster than we can support it.
14- You describe BHOUT as part of the future of “exergaming.” What are the top trends you’re seeing in this space, and where does BHOUT fit into them?
Three trends are converging.
The first is gamification. Consumers increasingly expect physical experiences to have the engagement and feedback loops they find in digital entertainment.
The second is AI and computer vision, which are finally making it possible for technology to understand human movement rather than simply count repetitions.
And the third is the convergence between the physical and digital worlds. Younger generations don’t really distinguish between the two in the way previous generations did.
BHOUT sits precisely at that intersection.
What we are building is essentially a gaming platform where the controller is your own body.
And unlike traditional gaming, performance isn’t measured by how fast you move your thumbs. It is measured by how well your body moves in the real world.
15- What are the main milestones you want BHOUT to achieve by the end of this year?
The biggest milestone is establishing BHOUT as an international B2B technology company.
That means successfully delivering our first international health-club-chain deployments, expanding manufacturing capacity, closing additional distribution agreements, and completing our first projects in new verticals such as hospitality.
We also want to continue improving the intelligence of the product itself – particularly our ability to understand movement, biomechanics, and performance.
If we finish 2026 having demonstrated that BHOUT can move from six Clubs in Portugal to technology deployed through international operators, that will represent a fundamental transition for the company.
16- What has surprised you most about how people have responded to BHOUT?
Probably the emotional response.
We expected people to appreciate the technology, but technology isn’t normally the first thing they talk about after a BHOUT session.
They talk about how much fun they had.
People finish a very demanding workout smiling, comparing scores, talking about combinations and wanting to play again.
For someone who has spent more than two decades in fitness, that is extremely powerful.
The technology is sophisticated, but the outcome we ultimately want is very human: to make people forget that they are exercising.
17- What is the biggest thing people still misunderstand about BHOUT?
That we are building a smart punching bag.
The Bag is the physical interface, but BHOUT is much bigger than the Bag.
The technology behind it is learning to understand how humans move – force, speed, accuracy, fatigue, and biomechanics – and then use that understanding to create interactive experiences.
Today that experience is boxing, kickboxing, and Muay Thai because they are extraordinary movements for combining fitness and gaming.
But the long-term opportunity for our Physical Intelligence Engine extends well beyond combat sports.
So I don’t think of BHOUT primarily as an equipment company. I think of it as a physical intelligence and interactive fitness company.
18- Is there anything else you would like to add that we haven’t covered?
We are at a very interesting inflection point.
For several years, we had to build almost everything ourselves: the technology, the product, the content, the Clubs, and even the market in which to demonstrate the concept.
Now the opposite is beginning to happen.
Health-club operators, distributors, and companies from other industries are approaching us because they are looking for more engaging, technology-driven physical experiences.
For a Portuguese company building deep technology at the intersection of AI, computer vision, gaming, and fitness, being able to take something developed and validated here and begin exporting it globally is incredibly exciting.
And I think we are still at the very beginning.
Featured image: Mauro Frota, founder and CEO of BHOUT (Photo courtesy of BHOUT)
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