Strava has tightened how developers operate on its platform and will begin implement a flat monthly fee for access its API that will also target data scrapers.
The move was revealed on Monday and all developers will now be required to pay $11.99 monthly, a major shift in how the fitness technology company interacted with third-party creators.
Access to Strava was traditionally free and helped field a wave of partner integrations. But AI companies have increasingly scraped user workout data for harvesting, which has seemingly forced Strava to impose a lockdown on how the backend of its platform is accessed.
User information like profiles will not be public for harvesting and now buried behind a layer of authentication to push back against AI scraping. That will occur through sunsetting some API endpoints that would easily permit a third-party entity to see specific details about users and club following a wide ban on AI tools in 2024 when it was revealed that the models used the information for machine learning.
Strava’s aggressive changes to combat data scraping and it’s new developer fees come months after it confirmed in that a public offering is imminent. In February the company confidential filed its IPO intention notice with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, signaling a plan to offer common stock to the public.
The confidential filing protected Strava’s exact IPO strategy from being exposed to the marketplace but the brand, founded in 2009, now has more than 150 million active users in 185 countries — with a $2 billion valuation.
Strava is backed by Sequoia Capital, TCV, Jackson Square Ventures, Dragoneer Investment Group and Sigma Partners and had a busy year of moves that were clearly directed toward an eventual IPO and reportedly brought Goldman Sachs on board to help facilitate the process.
Last April, Strava acquired AI running training company for a reported $200 million and bought popular cycling training app The Breakaway the following month.
Shortly after, CEO Mike Martin said that company’s record revenue were driving forces behind the acquisitions.
“When Strava was founded more than 16 years ago, it was created initially for cyclists—these users remain important members of our global community, and we are excited to enhance their experience through this acquisition,” Martin said last May.
