The Sanctuary Group Adds €2M, Launches New Studio

The Sanctuary Group received €2M from Banque Wormser Frères.

Need to know: The multi-brand French boutique fitness company will use the capital to grow in France and across Europe.

On plan, its sixth and newest concept, SPACE CYCLE, will open its second Parisian studio on 16 March.

Scaling up from six sites after raising €5M last year, The Sanctuary Group operates 15 studios across six brands: LE CERCLE (boxing); POSES (yoga, barre, Pilates); DRIP (bootcamp); DECIBEL (dance); SPACE CYCLE (spin); and Aqua by (aqua cycling).

Vive la franchising. Renaud Nataf, founder and CEO, is planning seven new locations per year to 2026 and will harness a franchise model to advance international growth:

“Our brands relate to every urban community throughout the world. We’ll develop in France’s biggest cities (Bordeaux, Marseille and Lyon, etc) and Europe’s most dynamic capitals (Spain, Belgium and Portugal) as the boutique gym market grows.” 

It’s a strategy other French operators are pursuing, with GIGAFIT aiming for 300 global clubs by 2026 and Monday Sports Club pushing for more verticals and European expansion.

Trend Watch

Riding the Pilates wave and reformer explosion, POSES will add reformer Pilates in September 2024.

Nataf’s growth tactics also leverage localised clustering for “faster growth while controlling the running cost of a location”, recently opening shop-in-shop studios, with a POSES inside SPACE CYCLE and a DECIBEL in LE CERCLE.

Of note, like rival Monday Sports Club or Xponential’s XPASS, it will debut a new membership scheme this April that gives clients access to all clubs and brands.

Takeaway: A young boutique fitness market, France is ripe with opportunities. Counting on continued demand, we’ll soon start to see more Paris-born brands heading into international territory.