A Newry-founded Pilates company that counts Hollywood A-listers among its fans has taken £1.5 million in a new equity funding round.
Husband-and-wife team Neal and Yvette McGaffin launched Reform RX in 2018 and developed the first digitally connected fitness Pilates reformer.
It enables users to take part in streamed on-demand classes, connect to wearables and receive meaningful metrics from their work-out.
Their equipment venture has continued to attract considerable interest from luxury hotels and investors.
Their latest funding round, led by Clarendon Fund Managers, totals £1.5 million, with £1m coming from the British Business Bank’s Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.
Funding has also been received from new angel investors from the Clarendon Private Investor Network.
It’s understood that Reform RX has raised around £3.5m to date.
“We have owned and operated Pilates studios in Belfast and Edinburgh for almost a decade now, but instead of continuing with that model we took some time to step back and evaluate the industry,” said Yvette McGaffin.
“We decided we would create our own reformer and, alongside our brilliant design team, we really immersed ourselves in the design and innovation of our concept which takes some inspiration from Formula One racing cars.
“Coming out of Covid we launched in the US and within two months we had sold out and completed $2.3million in sales.
“We have deals in place with Mandarin Oriental Hotels, The Ned in London and Casa Cipriani in New York as more luxury hotels expand their gym offering in line with guest needs.
“Our reformers have also been bought by a number of Hollywood stars but unfortunately we can’t reveals those names.”
Claudine Owens from Clarendon Fund Managers said the new funding will help take Reform RX to the next level of growth.
“With Neal and Yvette at the helm, Reform RX is an ambitious company, and we share their vision for the future,” she said.
“The sleekly designed product will do for Pilates what Peloton has done for cycling and Hydrow has done for rowing, in terms of design, connectivity and providing an immersive full body workout.”
