Our Current Portfolio
Our main investment interest lies in leisure with a leaning towards the health and fitness sector. We have deep knowledge of the consumer facing fitness sector having both started on the gym floor and worked our way up. The exponential rise of the tech element in fitness means that all businesses we are currrently involved are in tech or have a significant digital footprint.
WILD AI
WILD AI is a human performance platform streaming data from wearable tech and turning it into actionable insights using AI now concentrating on the female athlete. This is adaptive training through deep reinforcement learning, the WILD platform will improve performance.
For the first time women will have informed measurable self-improvement with a scientific approach and endless feedback cycle that is focused on them.
The founder and CEO is Helene Guillaime, a former quant but is also an experienced IronMan Triathlon competitor and ultra event athlete so she understands this demographic inside and out.
Why we invested?
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The Founder is talented, driven and ambitious
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The fitech space is growing at an exponential rate
Sector: Femtech
Date of Investment: July 2018
Investment Type: Convertible loan note Pre-qualifying
Sector: Health & Fitness B2C
Date of Investment: February 2019
Investment Type: Cash for shares swap
DIGME Fitness
We initially invested in Tribeca Studios which was then acquired by Digme Fitness early in 2019. Digme offers a diverse range of group exercise classes in an inclusive and community focused environment.
The management team at Digme is ambitious and currently has a portfolio of six sites in London. The acquisition was reported in Health Club Magazine.
The expansion plan in place means that we expect this equity play to grow in value over the next five years.
We are now sleeping partners so less work for us to do here and more time for the other investments.
Proinsight Research Ltd
Proinsight Research Ltd is a consumer insight business with a strong leisure footprint that specialises in mystery shopping. Mhairi and Andy join the board as Executive Directors with a brief to work with founder and MD David Hopkins to increase the market share in leisure and push into new sectors.
Why we invested:
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Quality consumer experience is a clear differentiator in the competition for leisure spend therefore great growth prospects
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Our black book contacts meshed with the desired target market in leisure
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The early management team showed great potential
With the full support of the majority shareholder Jonathan Stemp (Chief Infrastructure Officer City Football Group), the company is set for rapid growth.
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Sector: Consumer insight B2B
Date of Investment: April 2014
Investment Type: Equity (EIS)
Business Exits
Sector: Fitness Franchise
Date of Sale: June 2022
Buyer: Management Buyout
RFF Ltd t/a RISE
An opportunity arose to exit from the fitness franchise sector via a management buyout and we made the decision to take it.
The fitness sector has proved a challenging one with lenders wary after the COVID lockdowns. This tightened the demographic of the RISE target franchisee who required some funding to move forward and this in turn lengthened the sales cycle. These optics meant that this particular venture did not fit our investment cycle.
Although the long term outlook for the health & fitness sector looks good and the proliferation in outdoor fitness adds another positive, the sector is just not right for Socius Investing at the moment.
A management buyout was a realistic route as the co-founder team's skill set went across sales, operations and product development. This meant they were well placed to take on the business and move it forward.
They could see a bright future in the sector and were willing to invest in that.
We wish the team of James Cotton and Carl Smith all the best for the future.
Sale Type: Asset sale
Date of Sale: September 2021
Buyer: 3d Leisure Ltd
YourZone45 Franchise Network
Master franchisor EFG Ltd sold the bricks and mortar studio network in September 2021 to 3d Leisure Ltd. The management team had developed a new outdoor fitness franchise, RISE, in response to changing consumer habits and wanted to put all resources into scaling the new brand.
This was driven by the opportunity in the booming outdoor fitness marketplace combined with a lack of lender confidence in the fitness market. Moving to a low cost franchise made sense and the sale of the YZ45 network provided launch capital. A new management team was recruited.
KHC Ltd t/a 37 Degrees Olympia
Sports Direct buy 37 Degrees Olympia
Sports Direct emerged from a long list of buyers to complete a deal and purchase 37 Degrees Health and Fitness Olympia. The club owned and operated by Socius Investing and their investment partners, Albion Capital.
The deal was completed December 2015 and Sports Direct adds the Olympia club (latterly trading as The Printworks) to their extensive portfolio of health and fitness clubs. Read about the deal in the Guardian here: Sports Direct buy upmarket west London club.
Check out the trade press report on the Sports Direct purchase of 37 Health Club Management report on the deal.
Sale Type: Share sale
Date of Sale: December 2015
Buyer: Sports Direct
Sale Type: Share sale
Date of Sale: November 2014
Buyer: Encore t/a Third Space
Trophy Asset sells to Third Space
Socius Investing Sells 37 Degrees Tower Bridge
In November 2014 Socius Investing sold their highly successful Tower Bridge Health Club to Encore Capital. Both Socius and their backers, Albion Capital, divested themselves in a 100% share sale to Encore, who also own The Reebok Club [now trading as Third Space] Have a read about our exit from Tower Bridge Health Clubs Ltd.
As the founders of 37 Degrees we both felt this was a good 'home' for the club and the ambitions of Encore to build a London-based luxury health club chain fits with Tower Bridge's position as a trophy asset.
Click here to read the City AM report on the sale.
Click here to read Leisure Opportunities report on the sale.
ARK in trade sale to Bladerunner
Bladerunner buys ARK Leisure Management Ltd
Our first company, ARK Leisure Management Ltd, was a self-funded start up that ran health & fitness facilities and provided wellbeing programmes in the corporate market place.
Started in 1999 this company grew quickly, with the portfolio containing some world famous brands such as the BBC, Rolls-Royce plc, McDonalds Restaurants Ltd and British Airways. We exited the business via a trade sale in 2008 to Bladerunner Ltd which was subsequently acquired by the biggest operator in the market place, Nuffield Health.
Read about the deal here: http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/news/latest-news/94033
Sale Type: Share sale
Date of Sale: July 2008
Buyer: Bladerunner Ltd