Nearly a year ago to the day we brought you the story of a $1 million seed round for Montreal FitTech startup Silofit, which makes tiny, private gyms accessible to fitness fanatics on an hourly basis. Today, CEO Wilfred Valenta announced that there has been a $3.5 million seed extension, and the brand has opened three new micro-gyms in the downtown Toronto area. The initial seed round was led by Whitecap Venture Partners and Courtside Ventures, with participation from NFL player, Ndamukong Suh. However, in the Coronavirus environment in which we now live, investors quickly saw additional growth potential for Silofit and consequently the round was extended, bringing the total amount of seed funding raised to $4.5 million. This enabled the addition of Alate Partners as a strategic investor focused on the intersection of technology and real estate. Silofit has now raised a total of $4.6 million in funding since the company was founded in 2018.

“We launched our business in 2018 with a view to disrupting the out-of-home fitness industry. And today, while most gyms are contracting because of the pandemic, we are accelerating our expansion plans given the demand we are seeing for our space,” said Valenta. “In the past year, we have grown from two Silos to eight. And now, with the additional funding and strategic support from our investors – which are in the technology, sports, and real estate sectors – we are incredibly well positioned to continue on this path.”

Naturally the additional funding will be used to support Silofit’s continued expansion, with an eye to operating gyms in 20 locations across Montreal, Toronto and in a major U.S. city within a year. Silofit is also building its software platform and service offering for personal trainers, with plans to offer a mix of space, software and services that enable personal trainers to manage all aspects of their business and free them from the high commissions currently paid to traditional gyms.

It seems like a winning formula. In 2020 alone the Silofit team has grown from four people to 21.