A Newley-founded Pilates company which has some of Hollywood’s biggest stars as fans has raised £1.5m in a new equity funding round.
Husband and wife team Neil and Yvette McGuffin launched Reform RX in 2018, developing the first digitally connected fitness Pilates Reformer.
It allows users to participate in streamed and on-demand classes, connect to wearable devices, and receive meaningful metrics from their workouts.
Their amenities ventures continue to attract significant interest from luxury hotels and investors.
The latest funding round, led by Clarendon Fund Managers, is worth £1.5 million, of which £1 million was provided by the British Business Bank’s Northern Ireland Investment Fund.
Funding was also provided by new angel investors from the Clarendon Private Investor Network.
Reform RX is believed to have raised around £3.5 million to date.
“We have owned and run Pilates studios in Belfast and Edinburgh for almost 10 years and rather than continue with that model we decided to take some time to reassess and evaluate the industry,” Yvette McGuffin said.
“We decided to build our own Reformer and, together with our talented design team, got serious about designing and innovating a concept inspired by Formula 1 racing cars.
“We launched it in the US to help get us out of the COVID-19 pandemic and it sold out within two months, achieving sales of $2.3 million.
“More and more luxury hotels are expanding their gym offerings to meet the needs of their guests, and we have agreements with Mandarin Oriental Hotel, The Ned in London and Casa Cipriani in New York.
“Our Reformers have also been purchased by many Hollywood stars, but unfortunately we cannot reveal their names.”
Claudine Owens of Clarendon Fund Managers said the new capital would help take ReformRX’s growth to the next level.
“With Neil and Yvette at the helm, Reform RX is an ambitious company and we share their vision for the future,” she said.
“This sleekly designed product will do for Pilates what Peloton did for cycling and HydroRow did for rowing in terms of design, connectivity and delivering an immersive, full-body workout.”
