Dublin software company Glofox has raised €500,000 in funding to support its drive into the gym and fitness studio market in the US.

Glofox’s funding consists of €250,000 from Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up Unit that was matched with an additional €250,000 from private investment firm Growing Capital.

Glofox will use the funding to support its entry into the US market and further develop the product.

Glofox is a complete booking, payment and membership management platform for gyms and fitness studios and, for example, independent providers of group training classes like yoga or pilates.

The software has a monthly retainer fee of €80 to €150 and manages core aspects of fitness business management including membership, online payment processes and recurring fees, class management, appointment scheduling and booking and business analytics.

Start-up works on its core

The brainchild of former professional rugby player turned entrepreneur, Conor O’ Loughlin, Glofox currently employs 10 full-time staff, with plans to grow the team to 16 in the next 18 months to support the company’s growth.

“The platform is built in such a way that we can provide a SaaS delivery of both the web app dashboard and the custom-branded mobile app for each individual client, giving them the ability to self-configure their settings and branding,” O’Loughlin explained.

“As it is built for integration with mobile, the scope of innovation development in the fitness area is high, for example: integration with wearable devices, beacon technology and gamification are all on our current radar for implementation.

“We are excited about the prospect of what this business will look like in the next six-to-12 months given our current rate of development and growth.”

Gianni Matera, founder and director of Growing Capital, said that Glofox is one of Growing Capital’s first investments.

“Having the chance to follow the improvements and the hard work that the team has done in the past months, we’ve been struck by their fast growth and customers satisfaction,” she said.