Fitness Venture 1Rebel Tops £1.5 Million Equity Crowdfunding

UK based fitness startup 1Rebel has successfully raised £1,559,370 on equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube.  The offer was launched this past July and quickly jumped towards their final goal.  A single investor contributed £575,000 in the funding round giving it a substantial boost. The round closed overfunded at 136% of goal.

1Rebel was founded by the same team that launched Fitness First.  Founders Jatomi Fitness,  James Balfour and Giles Dean, the business will launch a chain of contract-free ‘high intensity’ boutique gyms in London, which allow members to book classes online and via an app on a pay-as-you-go basis. The company attracted the attention of 304 investors, who have backed the business in return for a 34% equity stake. The first 1Rebel gym is scheduled to open in Shoreditch in the winter of this year.

Crowdcube took the opportunity to update their list of achievements for 2014.  The funding portal has raised more than £37m in finance for 143 UK start-ups and growing businesses since it launched in 2011.

Firsts achieved by Crowdcube include:

• The successful launch of its first mini-bond investment product for established businesses – with River Cottage raising £1m in just 36 hours and Chilango’s Burrito Bond raising a total of £2m.
• The introduction in January 2014 of the first managed venture fund for crowdfunded equity investments.
• In September 2013 Kevin McCloud’s Hab Housing broke the world record for equity crowdfunding investment with 649 people putting in £1.95 million.
• The world’s fastest ever equity crowdfunding raise – in July 2014 Crowdcube raised £1.2 million in growth capital on its own platform in just 16 minutes. This was 12 times faster than the previous record for the fastest crowdfunded pitch.
• Crowdcube was the first crowdfunding platform to sign up an international partner and now has a presence in eight countries: Brazil, Sweden, Dubai, Poland, Italy, Spain and New Zealand.

Since February 2011, more than 86,600 savvy investors have registered with Crowdcube, helping to raise over £36 million of equity finance for 141 UK business pitches.