Sugar: This is Kağan Sümer's new social fitness network

His longevity plans have become a fitness network: Gorillas founder Kağan Sümer's new app, Sugar, is officially available in the App Store.

The new startup from Gorillas founder Kağan Sümer is slowly taking shape – and more and more details are emerging. With his company Mirror Labs, Sümer, together with his long-time partner Uğur Samut, has launched the fitness app Sugar. The app is already available in the app store and, according to the British magazine Sifted, is a "health-based social media platform" – a kind of social network focused on health and fitness . Sifted also reported that Sugar recently completed another round of financing. Between six and eight million euros are expected to have flowed into the project as early as 2023. In addition to Sümer and Samut, several well-known investors are also on board: former McKinsey consultants Anna Sophia Karamanli and Lars Herberholz, as well as Christoph Maire with his VC Atlantic Food Labs and the VC Calm/Storm Ventures.

In a LinkedIn video, Sümer explains that he wants to "create a huge social network" with Sugar—a place where people can connect and be active together. He can be seen riding his bike, heading to the very first Sugar event: a smoothie tasting.

The app focuses on community and visibility. Users can track what their friends are doing—whether they're jogging, walking, or meeting up for dinner. An interactive map shows nearby activities as well as recommendations for fitness spots, cafes, and bars where Sugar friends can meet. In addition to the social aspect, Sugar also wants to offer tracking tools that allow users to keep track of their running goals, for example—without having to use additional apps like Strava .

Sümer originally had very different plans for Mirror Labs: Instead of a social fitness app, the initial focus would be on blood tests. Gründerszene was able to view the pitch deck that Sümer and his co-founder Uğur Samut – also part of the former Gorillas team – used to seek investors in spring 2023. At the time, everything revolved around the trending topic of "longevity." Mirror was initially intended to focus on testing and diagnostics, later expanding to include medical and lifestyle consulting. Longer term, they even planned to develop their own wearables and supplements.

Sümer took a first step in this direction in the summer of 2024 when he acquired the nutritional supplement startup L-complex from founder Laura Jacobi. According to LinkedIn, he has officially ended his stealth mode since January 2025, and Sugar has officially launched.