Update: Overfunding Yoga & Fitness Studios ETHOS Nears £800,000 During the Final Days on Crowdcube

With less than five days until its Crowdcube campaign comes to an end, yoga and fitness studios, Ethos have successfully secured nearly £800,000 thanks to over 300 investors.

Ethos, which was founded by Cambridge graduates Dr. Theo Koutroukides and Jennifer Hersch, is described as a chain of boutique yoga & fitness hybrid studios combining health, science and technology. The company stated:

“We aim to bring all high profit trends to one location: Cycling, Yoga, Hot Yoga, Barre, TRX and Cross-Training and believe that this is unique amongst all other London studios and gyms. We strive to provide overworked and time-deprived customers with a one-stop shop for optimal mind/body health where they can do all activities with an easy Pay-As-You-Go model. This is delivered alongside a FitLab where science and health technology are integrated into the ETHOS approach.”

The ETHOS team revealed its progress:

• CLASSES: “Since launch our Cambridge High Street location has served over 10,000 individual customers and exceeds revenue targets with 83% customer retention rate. This was achieved prior to first investment in November 2015.”
• CAFE/BAR: “ETHOS has secured a prime location in the Old Spitalfields Market, London and has already launched its Terrace Health Bar. The outside deck seats more than 100 people and provides a social dynamic to boutique fitness, which we believe is missing from the vast majority of similar studios.”
• BRANDING: “Designs for the London space have been completed with a leading retail design firm who has worked with brands like Clarins, Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. Computer generated renderings reflecting the look and feel of the ETHOS Spitalfields fitouts can be found under the IMAGES section of this Crowdcube pitch. The contractors are in their eighth week of construction as of the end of December 2015.”
• RETAIL: “We partnered with leading international high-end activewear brands, like Lululemon and Spiritual Gangster, with ambition to produce an ETHOS activewear line which has already been designed.”
• FITLAB: “ETHOS recently completed its first partner research project with the University of Cambridge Psychology Department looking at psychometrics and physiological effects of yoga on 400 participants. Scientific results are due for publication in 2016. This is just one example of our commitment to Real Science, Real Benefit.”
• EDUCATION: “We running Teacher Training with faculty from Oxbridge and internationally renowned institutions to ensure the best teachers for the current and future studios. It is already an oversubscribed program.”

The company recently revealed a London launch progress report:

“Since our soft launch of the TRX/Cycle classes last Wednesday, Ethos London keeps getting increasingly populated seeing happy customers returning for more classes. The feedback has been extremely positive and first time visits on the Ethos website increased since Ethos was listed on ClassPass.”

They then announced the launch of its barre program:

“The Ethos London Barre programme will kick off its soft launch this Saturday with a special Valentine’s Barre Workout class at 2:30pm. Bring your partner for FREE and enjoy special holiday cocktail blends afterwards at our cafe bar. Our London barre programme will see the addition of another 4 world-class, professional dancers who will be announced next week. Our barre method only allows real dancers to teach at the studios. It is an important differentiator in the market.”

Funds from the campaign will be used for the construction of new club(s) and hiring of additional personnel. The initiative is set to close next week.