=> Published: 01 April 2025 <=

Garmin Acquires Strava: IPO Cancelled as $2.1Bn Cash and Equity Deal Confirmed

Update, May 2026: jokes aside, Garmin is genuinely targeting Strava. A leak of recent Garmin Connect app builds shows a Strava-style follower model, new privacy controls, and expanded community features in development. The strategic case for Garmin Connect competing with Strava is more credible than the April Fools framing suggested. Full analysis: Garmin vs Strava: Leak Shows Connect Targeting Strava.

Well, I didn’t see this coming. Strava’s IPO manoeuvring had gone very quiet and now we know why. Garmin has bitten the bullet and fully acquired the company for an eye-watering $2.1Bn in a cash and equity deal.

Strava and Garmin have always shared the same starting point, the athlete. This combination gives us the platform scale and hardware integration to deliver tools that neither company could build alone. The IPO process confirmed our value to the market. This outcome serves our athletes, our investors, and the long-term health of the platform more effectively than a public listing would have. [James Quarles, CEO, Strava]

More information about the acquisition is linked here but the details are sparse. Two points stand out.

Merges Subs Into One Connect+ Fee

The existing Strava subscription feature will be rolled entirely into the Garmin Connect+ fee, which for the time being remains unchanged i.e. there will be one point of billing and one annual fee of $69.99 covering both services.

The recently acquired Runna app will continue to operate at arm’s length, with sufficient autonomy to pursue its success in the growing youth running market, the market for running plans, and community organisation. The Runna subscription will remain separate from Connect+, which makes sense given the overlap with Garmin’s existing running plans and the risk that bundling the two would devalue both.

Pros

• Corporate (Garmin):
  • Gains Strava’s 100M+ users/social/heatmaps/segments;
  • owns end-to-end data;
  • $2.1B vertical integration;
  • broadly complementary, excellent fit;
  • gains control over a now pseudo-independent social data platform. Can force behavioural compliance from hardware competitors, or restrict their access.
• Customer:
  • One $69.99 Connect+ sub (was ~$150 separate);
  • seamless sync/single app;
  • better features.
• Market/Competitors:
  • Garmin stronger vs Apple/Coros/Suunto;
  • faster innovation now possible.
• On-device: Native Strava segments/heatmaps live on Garmin watches/computers.
• Heatmaps: benefit from even more data points from more users

Cons

• Corporate: $2.1B cost + integration execution risk.
• Corporate: Eats into a sizeable chunk of Garmin’s cash stockpile but not all (cash and stock deal)
• Customer:
  • Ecosystem lock-in from all angles;
  • non-Garmin users risk downgrade;
  • potential price hikes later.
• Market/Competitors:
  • Reduced competition – impacts Ride with GPS and Komoot;
  • Garmin dominance;
  • Rivals disadvantaged on data/features.
  • Sets up Garmin vs. The Rest as the only game in town
• On-device: Possible Garmin-only feature bias hurts other brands’ on-device features
• Security/Risk: Single-point data breach risk; antitrust scrutiny; less user choice.

Take Out

Published: 01 April 2025. => Sorry!

There is much that will be revealed over the coming months as the two businesses merge operations. Most revealing will be the extent to which Garmin gives preference, if any, to workout data sourced from its own devices compared to that from competitors such as Coros and Suunto. More striking still is how the enmity generated by Strava’s attempt to sue Garmin has resolved into a full acquisition.

With the annual cost of Strava currently at $79.99, the effect of the acquisition will be to lower the effective cost of Strava whilst bundling in the features in Connect+. Conversely Connect+ simply benefits from a significant bump in features for no additional cost, remaining at $69.99.

Source: Garmin Newsroom

What’s not to love?

Other than a lack of reality.

More: Garmin U-turns On Connect+ subscription

Related Coverage

For the real story behind the Garmin and Strava relationship, see Strava Garmin Lawsuit: Full Details. Meanwhile Whoop is on its own path: Whoop IPO: The Hiring Drive That Signals a Public Listing.

If you arrived here looking for Garmin product information, these are the guides that matter: Garmin Forerunner 970 Review, Garmin Fenix 9: What We Know, Best Triathlon Watch 2026, Garmin Cirqa Smart Band and Polar Loop Review. For Garmin training features explained, start with Garmin Features Explained.

Last Updated on 2 May 2026 by the5krunner

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID