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Silofit and Whitecap Ventures
Watch on YouTube ↗2021 Canadian Rocketship Companies - Silofit
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In their words
There's this huge issue in the industry where gyms and clinics take about a 70% cut, typically, of a professional's profits, because they're offering them space and also foot traffic.
You can almost look at it a bit like Uber, where Uber got rid of the medallion system — so suddenly drivers are now making more money and charging their clients less.
We started to meet every Wednesday at night at Starbucks for about six months while we all had jobs, and then we essentially quit our jobs. I moved on my mom's couch, they went on unemployment, and we all just started working together.
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Quick answers
What was Silofit?
A Montreal network of private micro-gyms. Valenta's team leased small, hard-to-rent office suites on five- to seven-year terms, fitted them out with equipment and a PIN-code door, and rented them by the hour through an app with no staff on site.
Who was it actually for?
Mostly personal trainers. Valenta told TechTO the model existed because gyms and clinics typically took about 70 percent of a professional's revenue in exchange for space and foot traffic, and cheap under-used real estate let Silofit hand most of that back.
What happened to Silofit?
It shut down in August 2023, five years after launch. Valenta attributed it to prolonged pandemic gym closures, shifted consumer behaviour and increased competition. The company had raised roughly $20 million CAD and operated in Montreal, Toronto and Miami.