Khalil Zahar of FightCamp

February 23, 2022 thetechtribune

An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Khalil Zahar (founder and CEO) of FightCamp, which was honored in our:

Tell us the origin story of FightCamp – what problem were you trying to solve and why?

FightCamp started under the brand name Hykso, which built smart punches trackers for professional boxers, Olympic boxing teams, and pro MMA fighters. After noticing that a lot of coaches also used our trackers to set goals and games for their fitness clients, it inspired us to create a consumer product that offered similar results in 2018.

While at-home fitness began to grow in popularity, we realized that there were no high-quality home boxing and kickboxing options on the market. Since we already built the tech, the team thought we had a unique opportunity to be the market leader for everything martial arts from home, which is how FightCamp came to be.

Over the past few years, we’ve increasingly noticed that more consumers have embraced a routine of hybrid fitness, incorporating both at-home and gym options, instead of solely working out at either one. Sticking to a fitness routine in a gym is difficult if you’re a busy professional or a young parent, making it the first thing that gets cancelled if other responsibilities get in the way, which is what we at FightCamp wanted to solve. As an industry, we’ve seen at-home fitness growing at 30% CAGR compared to 5% yearly in gyms, as the majority of gym members subscribe in January for the New Year and stop going by May.

What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?

Early on in our journey, we had to produce our first batch of trackers with a limited budget, while also convincing early institutional investors to come on board well before at-home fitness was “cool” and before Peloton was public.

What does the future hold for FightCamp?

Looking to the future, FightCamp is planning to expand to a wide array of workouts that go beyond the bag, like bodyweight, recovery, and more, which we’ve already started to add to the app. We’re also hoping to add some additional smart accessories that will add spice to our workouts, along with more content experiences that will bring users closer to the culture of boxing and martial arts, as we want to provide the most authentic experience possible.

What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Costa Mesa?

After focusing on our company for the last 5 years, I think I have met only 4 founders of tech companies here in Costa Mesa, and I think most of them have since closed their companies to do something else. It feels more disconnected than my experience in NorCal.

There are a few advantages to this more sheltered community, however. The biggest one is being shielded from the noise surrounding tech, which can be a major distraction. Certain eco-systems may reward companies way too quickly if you have any early sign of funding or growth, but in Costa Mesa, it takes bringing something real to the world for people to be intrigued.

What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?

Early on when you haven’t brought a product to market yet, don’t worry about start-up conferences, networking events, pitch competitions, incubators, PR, business development opportunities, or investors, unless you absolutely need them.

Ensure that your focus is on one thing and one thing only – getting a product out the door and into consumers’ hands to make money, even if it’s not for a lot of profit. The rest is noise. If you’re able to get a product into the hands of consumers, that’s what will bring everything else.