Romanian sports tech ESX raises €2M from Catalyst Romania

Bucharest-based fitness subscription startup ESX has raised a €2 million investment round aimed at scaling its platform. Catalyst Romania Fund II provided the funds, Start-up.ro reports.

• Founded in 2017 by Andrei Trofin, ESX develops an app offering a subscription to approximately 500 sports centers and fitness facilities in Romania. The membership is purchased online in up to 60 seconds and grants access once per day to all the gyms and fitness clubs ESX co-operates with. The number is growing significantly each month.
• In the past 18 months, ESX has grown nearly tenfold, reaching monthly revenues of almost €1 million. The solution has a community of 200,000 members in over 100 cities in Romania. And the users have already accessed partner facilities over 3 million times using the app.
• Catalyst Romania provided the €2 million investment through its Fund II. It is one of the leading technology-focused venture capital firms in Romania. The fund focuses on early growth capital investments in SMEs based in the Southeast Europe.

“This capital infusion will allow us to take ESX to the next level of development, both in the Romanian market and international markets. We will invest in expanding our partner portfolio to reach over 700 facilities in the network over the next two years. We will focus on improving the product and consolidating the B2B segment,”

Andrei Trofin, CEO and founder of ESX, comments.

• Thanks to the round, ESX plans to double its 30 people team by the end of the year. This year, ESX will also launch a new platform for coaches and nutritionists, paving the way for other products.