Firestation gym’s focus on the HIIT method is not a new thing.
But that’s actually working in their favour. By introducing a lesser-known, but proven workout ideology here in Malaysia with their own unconventional twist, Firestation has gotten a nice corner of the fitness market.
Revolution Fitness built Firestation into what they hope will be “the most Instagrammable gym on the planet”. It’s a smart move in the day and age where #Fitstagram is totally a thing.
Branding themselves as a boutique luxury fitness centre, it makes sense that their two Malaysian locations are based in Plaza Mont Kiara and Batai Village, near Damansara Heights.
Firestation also buys into the philosophy expounded by most newly-formed gyms: it does away with the now maligned stuff like contracts, joining fees and monthly fees, instead allowing customers to pay as they train.
Redefining Workouts In Malaysia
Firestation has only been around since 2015. Dave Nuku of The Biggest Loser Asia fame and CEO of Firestation said in an interview with Firstclasse:
“My philosophy on fitness is that the fire has to come from within, so we have to be intrinsically motivated to achieve any level of sustainable success,” Dave said. “If you could create a space that was purposely built with that kind of idea in mind, then you’d have something special.”
Aesthetic is more than just social media in this case, but it definitely benefits that side of the equation too.
But let’s talk about the actual fitness aspect.
Dave Nuku wanted updated existing suspension training equipment to suit his workouts, and eventually designed one of his own.
The Fire Suspension Trainer has since been patented as a modification to the regular suspension trainer, and the center to which Firestation as a gym was built around.
From there, Firestation built a fitness concept around unconventional workouts, incorporating discoveries in health and fitness science into their fold.
Customers get 45 minutes of high intensity training programme (HIIT) per class. Firestation offers either:
- Personal training
- Small group training (maximum 20 people at a time)
- Private group training (think like corporate training, etc.)
They acknowledge that fitness is more than just a trip to the gym—it’s a lifestyle. The trainers that they bring into their fold try to incorporate this mindset into their workouts, as well as the community-building.
This ties back into the aesthetic, also bringing in music and a sense of community. They understand what all good gyms should have: community and the social element.
And Now They’ve Crowdfunded Their Way Towards Further Growth.
It’s a bit unusual for a gym to go the equity crowdfunding route in Malaysia, but Firestation knew what they were doing.
Appealing to the sense of community, Firestation called for investors who would want a piece of equity in their business to support their crowdfunding campaign. With a campaign plea that launched on Facebook on the 24th of May, Revolution Fitness aimed for Rm200,000—but found themselves with RM607,072 from 36 investors.
This is a little more than 300% of their original goal.
The team will be using this for what we can project to be a speedy establishment and expansion in Singapore.
Firestation 3.0 will find a home somewhere in Singapore’s Central Business District, with a projected opening of early July. Revolution Fitness values the Singapore market at 1.2 billion ringgit annual revenue per annum, twice of what they state the Malaysian value is.
And they believe that the business model and branding will carry them in Singapore’s admittedly more seasoned fitness scene.
Firestation’s unconventional but effective campaign is another win for equity crowdfunding in Malaysia. Previous equity crowdfunding successes on pitchIN includes record-breaking Babydash and well-known Kakitangan.
This proves to pitchIN’s CEO Sam Shafie that the equity crowdfunding scene in Malaysia is seeing a promising upward trend.
“Firestation is the first company of its kind to raise funds through equity crowdfunding in Malaysia and we are happy to see that investors bought into their vision of growth.”
“Time and again, pitchIN has proven that investors will come in for good deals,” said Sam in a press release. “pitchIN has done 3 deals this far in 2017 and all have been well received by investors.”
“pitchIN has become the leading ECF platform in Malaysia and the RM4,000,000 that we have successfully raised to date makes it the best performing ECF platform in Malaysia. pitchIN will not rest on its laurels and investors can look forward to more great deals coming up soon on pitchIN Equity.”
Feature Image Credit: Firestation’s Facebook