companies

Tonal Systems Inc.

AI-driven smart home gym that adjusts digital resistance rep-by-rep and reads your form through built-in cameras to coach lifts live.

Tonal is a wall-mounted strength machine that replaces free weights and cables with electromagnetic resistance, adjustable in one-pound increments up to 250 pounds on the newer Tonal 2. Aly Orady founded the San Francisco company in 2015 after building the original prototype in his garage; it shipped its first units in 2018. Two cameras built into the unit track joint position during each rep, and the system uses that feed to auto-adjust weight, flag when form breaks down, and generate Smart View replay clips showing exactly where a lift went wrong. Programming (strength blocks, mobility, cardio) runs through an adaptive coaching engine that changes future workouts based on completed reps rather than a fixed calendar. The company has weathered three CEO changes in as many years — founder Orady stepped aside for Krystal Zell in 2023, Zell exited in 2024, and Darren MacDonald then Todd Bartee have since led the company — alongside funding rounds that valued it as high as $1.6 billion in 2021 before a 2023 raise closed at a fraction of that.

Founded

2015

Headquarters

San Francisco, United States

Sector

hardware