- Private fitness space network Silofit announced it raised $1 million in seed funding led by Whitecap Venture Partners and Courtside Ventures
Silofit — the world’s first network of private fitness spaces — announced it has raised $1 in a seed round of funding. This round of funding was led by Whitecap Venture Partners and Courtside Ventures with participation from NFL player Ndamukong Suh.
This funding round will be used for supporting the company expansion — which includes growing its employee base, adding new facilities to its portfolio, and to enter new markets.
Silofit has been set up to improve the end-to-end experience for wellness professionals and their clients. And the company leases small office spaces and turns them into private gym studios that can be booked by fitness trainers or individual gym-goers, on-demand, and by the hour through its iOS and Android app.
The Silofit app is used to locate a space, and select the date, time, and duration for a fitness session. Before a booking session, users receive instructions for using the “Silo,” including a unique access code to unlock the door.
“We are seeing a growing shift in the fitness market where fitness professionals, in particular, are moving away from traditional, large-scale gyms, and instead looking at using our well-equipped micro-gyms, which provide the space and equipment needed for a full-body workout, but without the high costs that both trainers and their clients pay to a gym,” said Silofit co-founder and CEO Wilfred Valenta. “With zero investment in advertising, our current facilities are already at capacity. With support from our investors, we are now very well positioned to build on this momentum we are seeing in the market and expand our operations to meet the growing demand.”
Ever since Silofit launched in January 2018, the company developed its reservations app and established two micro-gyms in downtown Montreal, both of which get fully booked on a weekly basis. And to address the growing demand for its facilities, Silofit is planning to open two more studios in Montreal, including a bigger studio that will provide space to host both fitness classes and group training sessions.
“Silofit has established a great business model that leverages technology and small real estate footprints to attract fitness professionals and consumers,” added Shayn Diamond, partner at Whitecap Venture Partners. “Shifting from the traditional large gym to the micro-gym concept while managing the service provider’s business through its app, Silofit is at the forefront of a massive opportunity in the fitness industry.”
Silofit plans to bring its network of private fitness spaces to Toronto. To do this, Silofit signed two leases for spaces in the downtown core and plans to open these new locations in Q1 2020. Plus Silofit will be expanding to the U.S. market in 2020.
“Based on the early success and strong utilization of Silofit’s first micro-gym spaces, it’s clear that their approach is unique and the demand for such an offering is incredibly underserved,” explained Deepen Parikh, partner at Courtside Ventures. “When we looked at the impact of the first few Silofit locations, coupled with the scalable vision of the founders, we made the decision to work with Wilfred and team on changing the landscape of the out-of-home fitness industry.”
