Albion and MMC shape up with PayasUgym investment

VC firm Albion invested £250,000 in the gym business, alongside MMC and existing investors, to bring the total raised by PayasUgym to £3.5m since its inception in 2010.

The company's initial funding was provided by business angels including booking.com founder Andy Phillips, Toptable founder Karen Hanton and Harm Tegelaars, who founded the Cannons health and fitness chain.

According to a 2013 report, the UK health and fitness market has been valued at £3.92bn. Of the 6,000 fitness facilities in the UK, PayasUgym has signed up 1,700 to its website. The company plans to launch new products and services following the capital injection, including a fitness class comparison and booking service later this year.

Albion's current investments in the health and fitness sector include the 2006 capital injection into 37 degrees, a health club based at More London; and an £8.3m investment in The Weybridge Health Club in 2005, according to unquote" data.

Recent deal activity in the recreational services sector includes February's merger of Pure Gym and The Gym Group, both of which are private equity-backed. Last November, 3i backed Dutch and Belgian discount gym operator Basic-Fit in a €110m deal, while BC Partners had to call in Oaktree Capital and Marathon to turn around Fitness First's ailing fortunes in March 2012.

Company
Founded in 2010 by Jamie Ward and Neil Harmsworth, PayasUgym claims it now provides access to more than one in three of all UK health clubs and gyms. Website visitors locate gyms online and then purchase flexible, discounted single and bundled gym passes, for which PayasUgym retains a percentage of the revenue; or one-month and three-month passes, for which the company charges commission.

Customers receive passes by SMS and email and then present them to gym staff for access, bypassing the need for lengthy gym subscriptions, fitness assessments or inductions. They are also able to leave feedback on their gym experience.

Based in Fulham, PayasUgym has partnered with brands such as Virgin Active, Pure Gym, Energie and Hilton Livingwell. The company has 20 employees and more than 150,000 people are registered to the website.

People
Jamie Ward and Neil Harmsworth are co-founders and CEOs of PayasUgym. Rory Stirling is a partner at MMC. Albion's deputy managing partner Will Fraser-Allen will join PayasUgym's board of directors. Booking.com founder Andy Phillips will also join PayasUgym's board following the deal.

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• Topics
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• Albion Ventures
• MMC Ventures