This week, I checked in with Namita Gupta, director of strategic partnerships at SoulCycle, to learn about the company’s newest partnership with Loop Earplugs, a category disruptor that makes stylish, reusable earplugs that protect the user’s long-term hearing. It’s part of SoulCycle’s aggressive partnership strategy and aligns with a wave of industry collabs driving consumers to new health and wellness offerings in the new year.
Additionally, Oura ring sponsors Team USA, Amazon enters the personal health data analysis race, Solace reaches a $1 billion valuation, and Katseye unveils its first Erewhon smoothie.
SoulCycle taps Loop earplugs for hearing-focused collaboration built on sales commission
We are roughly seven weeks into 2026, and the fitness and wellness collaborations are still coming in hot.
Last week, we reported on the partnership between PVolve and Weight Watchers, which places the buzzy fitness company’s on-demand classes within the Weight Watchers app, as well as the first limited-edition smoothie by Function Health and Erewhon. Meanwhile, the beauty space is flooded with functional beverage collaborations, including Tower28 x Poppi, Liquid Death x E.l.f. Beauty, and Cocokind x Olipop.
Announced on Wednesday, the latest partnership on our radar is between two first-movers in the fitness and wellness spaces: SoulCycle, the 20-year-old spin studio chain that re-popularized stationary bike training, and Loop Earplugs, the 10-year-old Belgian company disrupting the earplug category with stylish, reusable earplugs designed to protect the user’s hearing during various activities.
“Wellness is slowly becoming more integrated into all of our lives,” Namita Gupta, director of strategic partnerships at SoulCycle, told Glossy. “It gives SoulCycle an exciting opportunity to almost teach our audience about [various modalities of] wellness.”
The partnership is anchored around hearing health, a little-discussed area of wellness that is primed for more visibility. For example, tinnitus, a burdensome ringing in the ears with no agreed-upon cure, is experienced by around 10-15% of the U.S. population, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and is often linked to listening to music too loud during one’s younger years.
Gupta told Glossy that the partnership was organic and not a response to complaints about the volume of music in SoulCycle classes. Like many other studios, SoulCycle offers free disposable foam earplugs in every studio for noise-sensitive individuals.
Loop Earplugs launched a decade ago and currently sells a variety of offerings, ranging from $25-$60 per pair, DTC and through retailers like Target, Nordstrom and Lowe’s. Loop is privately held by its co-founders, Dimitri O and Maarten Bodewes. Its products offer hearing protection that can be titrated up or down based on activity, include a carrying case and various ear tips for comfortable wear, and can be washed and reused indefinitely.
The collaboration is anchored in the sale of two limited-edition earplugs at 15 SoulCycle locations and through its e-commerce site. The earplugs come in two colorways, black and gold, and will retail for $35 per pair during the collab’s six-month run.
“Holistic wellness, what we call ‘wellness beyond the bike’ internally, is a big priority [for me] and a focus for us in general,” Gupta said. “This partnership very much taps into that. We are able to allow our riders to have a full, immersive SoulCycle experience with no compromise, but they’re learning about hearing protection at the same time.”
Gupta has been with SoulCycle for two years. Her CV includes partnership-focused roles at Pinterest and Facebook, as well as business development-focused roles at Nasty Gal and Shoe Dazzle. She currently helms six- to seven-figure partnerships for SoulCycle. The Loop partnership is structured around commission for the earplugs that SoulCycle sells, Gupta told Glossy.
On average, Gupta’s team is running around 15 partnerships at once, she told Glossy. Previous partnerships include Virgin Voyages, Tacovas Boots, Apple and FX, with wellness partnerships on the horizon. SoulCycle’s parent company is The Equinox Group, which acquired the majority stake in the business between deals in 2011 and 2016.
“My strategy this year [has placed] a big focus on health and wellness, and women’s health,” she told Glossy. “We’ve become super intentional about how we show up for our riders. With every partnership we get across the line, we always ask ourselves the question, ‘Is this making the rider experience better?’”
As for the partnership’s promotion, a social media-based giveaway will reward one winner with two pairs of earplugs and six months of free SoulCycle classes.
The SoulCycle team is also in the midst of planning a partnership-focused ‘Wellness Weekend’ in the Hamptons this summer and is seeking wellness sponsors. Last year, the company partnered with mocktail maker MTE, lymphatic massage brand Uni, the Hyperice muscle recovery system and more during a client-focused activation.
News to know:
- Good Bacteria, a gut-focused supplement brand launched in September of last year, has taken on $3.2 million in seed funding from venture firms including BAM Ventures, Brand Project and River Park Ventures. The company currently sells its $64 Rotating Probiotic supplement DTC. The company will use the seed funding for product development, marketing and growth initiatives.
- Katseye, the Grammy-nominated girl group you may recognize from the viral 2025 Gap campaign, launched an Erewhon smoothie last week called the ‘Gabriela smoothie’. Named after its hit song of the same name, the smoothie is focused on hydration and features Malk Coconut milk, Vita Coco coconut water, Cocoyo yogurt, Nate’s organic honey, and a variety of supplements and fruits.
- Oura ring, the 11-year-old Finnish health tracker company valued at more than $1 billion in 2025, is betting on the Olympics. Announced earlier this month, the company is the official wearable of Team USA. The company will provide trackers for all athletes through the current Winter Games and the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028, and will sponsor NBC broadcasts. “U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes operate in environments that demand careful attention to recovery, sleep and overall wellbeing,” said Oura CEO Tom Hale in a statement. “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to supporting athletes with scientifically validated insights that can help them better understand their bodies and make more informed decisions as they navigate the demands of training and competition.”
- Speaking of health tracking, Amazon is going after a share in the evolving personal health data landscape. Announced last week, Amazon’s One Medical — the telehealth service Amazon acquired in 2023 — has launched a new feature called ‘Health Insights’. The beta launch is available to One Medical users and is powered by a partnership with longevity platform Lifeforce. The new AI-powered offering analyzes lab results, like blood panels, and provides health analysis, recommendations and a personalized health score.
- The Food and Drug Administration has plans to take “decisive steps” to crack down on unapproved GLP-1s marketed and sold to American consumers through compounding pharmacies, which make drugs from scratch, and sold by telehealth companies. Hims & Hers, an example of the latter, is the only business named in the February 6 letter. Published on the FDA’s site, the letter puts the maker of approved GLP-1s on notice, as well: The FDA is also taking steps to combat misleading direct-to-consumer advertising and marketing, according to the agency.
Stat of the week:
Another day, another health and wellness unicorn is born. Last week, Glossy reported on telehealth platform Midi’s $1 billion valuation. This week, it’s Solace, a unique health platform that connects patients with health advocates, which has achieved the elusive $1 billion status. Solace raised $130 million in a Series C round led by tech-focused VC firm IVP, at a $1 billion-plus valuation, which it will use to scale. The company has around 20,000 users and is growing tenfold year over year.
In the headlines:
Dick’s Sporting Goods received more than 10,000 applications for its creator program this year [Modern Retail]. Exercise variety predicts longevity [FittInsider]. America’s healthier past is no more than a myth [McGill]. What happens inside your brain when you’re sleep deprived [WSJ]. I spent a week at a luxury gut health retreat — was it worth it? [The Independent].
Listen in:
Injectable peptide therapy, a controversial wellness trend that caught fire online in 2025, shows no signs of slowing down in 2026. So, what’s the deal? Host Lexy Lebsack sat down with two experts in today’s Peptides 101 episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast to learn about the meteoric rise of the overall trend and the power of peptide stacks like BPC-157.
Need a Glossy recap?
Function Health’s new Erewhon smoothie was designed to highlight nutritional gaps and promote telehealth lab testing. Why every beauty brand is collaborating with a soda. The Knot joins OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad test as brands rethink AI visibility. Purely Elizabeth is borrowing from beauty’s launch playbook to target Gen Z.
