Latest news with #ReformRX
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Our product is the next generation in reformer pilates
Yvette McGaffin, CEO and co-founder of Reform RX, says her company is the next generation digitally connected pilates reformer and has "reimagined and reinvented" the talks about starting the brand, a surge in market growth and how tech will change the product."When you are on the product, everything else in life falls away and it becomes an immersive experience," she says. Read the interview here
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Our product is the next generation in reformer pilates
Yvette McGaffin, CEO and co-founder of Reform RX, says her company is the next generation digitally connected pilates reformer and has "reimagined and reinvented" the talks about starting the brand, a surge in market growth and how tech will change the product."When you are on the product, everything else in life falls away and it becomes an immersive experience," she says. Read the interview here Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Reformer pilates is the top-searched fitness trend — and we're reinventing it'
When Yvette McGaffin visited her brother's workplace at McLaren headquarters in Woking several years ago, seeing the sleek design of a Formula 1 car up close sparked reimagination of how she viewed the 100-year-old movement technique in pilates. Founded in 2018 by McGaffin, a New Zealand native, and her husband Neal, Reform RX set out to create a world-first pilates reformer entwined with "functionality, connectivity and instructor talent". A world away from the traditional reformer of exposed springs, pulleys and a wooden frame, the Belfast-based company pioneered technology for the first time. It allows data to be tracked during workouts and gives real time biometric feedback to consumers. Read More: How Caroline's Circuits became a midlife fitness empire A functional movement specialist and pilates expert over the last 20 years, McGaffin founded her own boutique Reform Studios in 2015, where she had trained Game of Thrones producer Bernadette Caulfield for several years before dawn. Spotting a gap in the luxury home-fitness market, she then took the F1 concept to Austin Owens, who runs Hertfordshire-based Grove Design. Owens, who along with Caulfield has since invested in the company, brought the design brief to life with a "smart spine" on the reformer — 'where we house the magic,' says McGaffin — which can track the power movement of the sliding carriage to a thousandth of a second. 'We have reinvented not only the technological side, but physically we had a concept F1 car design with what could only be called a torture chamber of a traditional pilates reformer,' says McGaffin. 'It looks a little scary, to say the least, and so it was about how do we make this look like this [the F1 brief]. 'We've made it more beautiful and more aesthetically pleasing so we can very much lower the barrier of entry.' Read More: 'Why we set up a sustainable mobile operator to save people money' Last year, Reform RX secured £3.8m ($5.1m) in funding and was recently purchased for an undisclosed sum by iFIT Inc, a US-based connected fitness equipment specialist, as the McGaffins look towards further global expansion. The acquisition is the culmination of a creative career for McGaffin, who studied performing arts in Sydney, moved to London when she was 21 and undertook a dance career in both commercial and contemporary dance before honing her current craft in studios across the globe. 'It's really been a labour of love,' she says, 'to not only come into the next generation with tech, but also creating something that was more durable, more sustainable, in the class studio environments and coming into health clubs, hotels and homes.' Reform RX has partnered with hotel chains including Hilton (HLT), Waldorf Astoria and Mandarin Oriental (MDO.L), and has studio partners in 13 countries. Meanwhile the industry has seen significant growth in recent years and, says McGaffin, is the most searched fitness trend due to its links with wellness and longevity. Read More: Meet the company that finds 'must-haves' to make everyday life easier There have been logistical start-up challenges, not least post-COVID when Reform RX sold out of its first 500 unit order and had every supply chain component ready to go into manufacturing before a global chip shortage took hold. 'You might think with a pilates equipment company that doesn't matter, but when you're the first tech inspired next generation company, it very much does. And we had a six-month wait on the chip that we needed.' Nevertheless, the company generated $1m (£740,000) in revenue within two weeks of launch and sold out of its initial product line in the first quarter of 2023. Its products cost from £7,350 and count Sir Ian McKellen and unnamed Hollywood A-listers among customers. 'When you're on a reformer, the good, bad and the ugly in our lives fall away,' says McGaffin. 'It becomes this completely immersive experience where you're connected with your mind and to your body, and you even enter into your parasympathetic nervous system, which is such a wonderful thing, almost like a sense of meditation, but in a mindful movement way.' Read more: Meet the 'jokers from London' who sold 100,000 blocks of butter in first 10 weeks 'My sofa took six months to arrive — so I built a £20m business' 'I paid myself £4 an hour to get my Rollr deodorant off the ground'Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Our product is the next generation in reformer pilates
Yvette McGaffin, CEO and co-founder of Reform RX, says her company is the next generation digitally connected pilates reformer and has "reimagined and reinvented" the talks about starting the brand, a surge in market growth and how tech will change the product."When you are on the product, everything else in life falls away and it becomes an immersive experience," she says. Read the interview here Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Belfast Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
NI husband and wife team sell their Pilates equipment business to US firm
A Pilates equipment business in Northern Ireland founded by a husband and wife has now been sold to a US company. Reform RX, founded by Yvette and Neal McGaffin in 2018, has been purchased for an undisclosed sum by connected fitness company iFIT Inc. The deal marks the first exit for the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland Equity Fund, which backed the company with £1m last year. Reform RX operated reformer Pilates studios in Belfast and Edinburgh before the McGaffins decided to create their own Pilates apparatus. They came up with the world's first connected reformer, enabling users to take part in on-demand classes, connect to wearables and receive metrics about their workout. Mrs McGaffin said: 'This acquisition marks an exciting new chapter with a partner who truly shares our vision to expand globally and continue innovating in ways that create experiences both high-tech and deeply human. 'Together with iFIT, we're shaping a future where movement becomes more intelligent, more intuitive, not just for fitness, but for lifelong health and well-being.' She said it had been an 'incredible privilege' to be part of the NI business community, describing it as 'a place of resilience, innovation, and immense support'. "As a female founder, I'm especially proud to contribute to the growing momentum around supporting women in business. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has been part of the Reform RX journey, including our dedicated investors and partners who helped bring this vision to life.' The IFNI was launched by The British Business Bank to support innovation and create opportunities for new and scaling businesses. The £70m fund offers commercial financial options including debt finance and equity investments to support businesses. Clarendon Fund Managers manages the £33m equity fund and can provide equity stakes in smaller businesses of up to £5m. Reform RX closed an investment round of £1.5m in June last year, including the £1m from IFNI. The acquisition of Reform RX is also the first exit from the £1.6bn committed across the Nations and Regions investment funds, which the British Business Bank runs on behalf of the UK government. The IFNI equity fund deployed £7.2m of equity investment in its first year of operation, leveraging a total of £17.6m of investment in seven companies. Claudine Owens, senior investment manager at Clarendon Fund Managers, said: 'We are delighted that Yvette and Neal have found a global partner in the connected fitness sector which has recognised their huge growth potential and who wants to take Reform RX to the next level. "We knew from the early days that this company was hugely ambitious and that the £1m investment from us was just a stepping stone to greater success. 'The Clarendon team have been pleased to support the company on their journey to acquisition and we are really excited that Northern Ireland is leading the way with the first exit from all of the British Business Bank's regional investment funds. "It speaks to the scaling potential of the innovative businesses in this region. We wish Yvette and Neal every success for this next exciting stage.' Mark Sterritt, director of nations and regions investment funds, British Business Bank said: 'Congratulations to Yvette, Neal and the team at Reform RX on this exciting news. It was apparent immediately that this innovative company was setting a new bar in the world of Pilates equipment and that Reform RX perfectly fitted the profile of companies the investment fund is keen to support. 'For the fund to have achieved its first exit in little over a year since launch is remarkable. It is also testament to the quality of Northern Ireland's innovative companies and to the support they are receiving from our fund managers as they navigate their growth journeys. 'We are proud to have supported Reform RX ahead of this landmark acquisition and confident there are more exits ahead for Northern Ireland businesses.'
