Silofit, a Montreal-based network of private, on-demand fitness spaces, raised Canadian $1 million in seed funding. The round was led by Whitecap Venture Partners and Courtside Ventures, with participation from NFL player Ndamukong Suh.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its reach, grow the team, add new facilities to its portfolio, and enter new markets.
Led by Wilfred Valenta, co-founder and CEO, Silofit has established itself as the world’s first network of private fitness spaces and is focused on improving the end-to-end experience for wellness professionals and their clients. 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, using its app on the App Store and Google Play. The app is used to locate a space, and select the date, time, and duration for a fitness session. Ahead of the booked 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 Wilfred Valenta, co-founder and CEO of Silofit. “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.”
Since its launch in January 2018, Silofit has developed its reservations app and established two micro-gyms in downtown Montreal, both of which get fully booked on a weekly basis. To address the growing demand for its facilities, Silofit plans to open two more studios in Montreal, including a bigger studio that will provide space to host both fitness classes and group training sessions.
In early 2020, Silofit is bringing its network of private fitness spaces to Toronto. The company has signed two leases for spaces in the downtown core and plans to open these new locations in Q1 2020. Silofit will be expanding to the U.S. market in 2020.
“Silofit has established a great business model that leverages technology and small real estate footprints to attract fitness professionals and consumers,” said 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.”
“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,” said 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.”
