SportClubby, the start-up incubated in I3P that has launched the leading platform for booking outdoor and gym sports and wellness, closes a new €1.5 million capital increase. The operation was underwritten and coordinated by Wylab, the first SportsTech Business Incubator in Italy, together with a pool of investors.
Since its foundation in 2018, thanks to the results in the field, the startup has managed to raise 4.5 million euros in several rounds, including the 950,000 euro operation in February 2021, establishing itself as one of the most funded sport-tech realities in Italy. The new funds will allow to accelerate the development in the country, evolve the business model in B2C key as a reference app for sportsmen, and expand in Europe. The objective for the end of 2022 will be to affiliate the first fifty structures in new countries.
In recent years, with the new scenario that emerged during the pandemic, the company was able to evolve to accompany hundreds of sports centers in the digital transformation of the sector, thanks to the first platform to manage reservations, schedules, subscriptions, Green Passes, mobile payments, sports micro-insurance, promotions and other digital services for sports. Today the app is used by nearly one million people in 800 facilities spread across 90 out of 107 Italian provinces. With a user base growing by over 20,000 new members every month across hundreds of different disciplines, SportClubby has exceeded 14 million bookings.
To support its development plans, the company - which today has 25 employees - will strengthen its team by introducing new managerial figures in the sales and marketing area and will continue to invest in the development of new digital functions to improve the experience of sportsmen and women. Among these, the introduction of a metaverse dedicated to sport and an increasingly evolved and accessible offer for the domotics of centers with a view to digitalization. An offer that today already includes intelligent access control systems and SportCam for use in sports facilities, to record, analyze and stream training sessions and matches.
"The new round will allow us to build momentum for digital transformation in the industry at scale. In fact, in the last two years, people's expectations have changed towards any kind of "product" and sport is no exception: we want to buy a subscription in a few touches, receive communications on our smartphones and interact with those who share our passions, just as happens when we shop online or book a hotel," explains Biagio Bartoli, CEO and co-founder of SportClubby. "I have always thought that sports make people's lives better and technology is the most effective way to bring them closer to sports."