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GymForLess Will Now Let You Work Out Across Borders

CEO Oriol Vinzia checking up with his team at their Poble Nou offices.

The Barcelona-based startup will in October launch new features to their product, and let people work out across borders in both Spain, France and Italy. This was a natural move for the startup that recently have grown a lot in the B2B market, says CEO Oriol Vinzia:

We work with international companies that have workers that travel a lot. If you live in Barcelona, but work a lot from Paris, you’ll be able to choose amongst hundreds of gyms in both cities with our programs.

The itnig company recently closed a bridge round of €160.000 to keep focusing on their technology, as they’re planning on closing an A-round in the beginning of 2017 explains Vinzia:

We’re aiming for a round of €1 million or more, so we’ll start approaching investors from October.

2017 will be the year people talk about the disruption of gyms

At least that’s what CEO Vinzia think is coming as one of the big industries of disruption next year.

There are several big online gym marketplaces that are growing, and we’re the biggest one in southern Europe. I think the industry we’ll read a lot about the next year, is the disruption and digitalization of gym-services.

Brazilian competitor Gympass recently landed in Spain, but they’re only focusing on the B2B market, says Vinzia.

We’ve already established a strong B2C market of thousands of users, and we’ve recently seen great growth in our B2B market. Our challenge now is to find the perfect balance for our focus on the two markets.

Crossing the million mark

GymForLess offers three different programs that gives you access to hundreds of gyms. Here’s the map of Barcelona.

GymForLess had a turnover of €350.000 last year, and expects a turnover of €1 million by 2016, according to the CEO:

By 2017 we’re predicting a turnover of €2.5 million.

The company will now focus heavily on their tech product. With over 100.000 active users on their app they aim to add additional features that goes beyond working out and locating a gym.

We want to add personal trainers, possibly a marketplace to buy gym clothes, but also to add a social layer between the clubbers, so friends can challenge each other, and compare results from their exercises.

CEO Vinzia also adds that they’re looking into possibilities with connecting the app to pulse watches and other devices.

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This post was written by Sindre Hopland, media manager at itnig.

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Legal Issues When Starting a Business in Spain

Spain has become a very interesting place for foreigners to establish their businesses. They can find a solid entrepreneurial ecosystem, skilled partners and workers, and nice weather. All these elements are attractive enough to start an entrepreneurial adventure.

In this article we are going to outline some of the basic requirements that everyone should have in mind when starting a business in Spain.

Legal Structure

In Spain there are two main ways to structure a business: the first one is to work as a Freelancer (Autónomo), and the second one is to incorporate a Spanish Limited Company (Sociedad Limitada).

Identification

First of all, any foreigner interested in starting a business in Spain, either as a freelancer or through a Spanish Company, shall have a foreign identification number (NIE).

Freelance (Autónomo)

To be an Autónomo means to begin a business as a self employed person. There are two steps to become an Autónomo; first of all you have to notify to the Spanish Tax Administration (Agencia Tributaria) that you are going to start an economic activity, and then you should register to the regime of self employed persons in the Social Security (Seguridad Social), with a notification validated by the Tax Administration.

Once you are registered in the Social Security, you will have to pay a monthly fee, being the base fee 256,72 euros. However, current reductions for new Autónomos have recently being approved by the government, including the following features:

For new Autónomos under 30 years old the following reductions will apply:

  • An 80% Social Security fee reduction during the first 6 months. (50 euros approximately);
  • A 50% Social Security fee reduction during the next 6 months after the previous period of time;
  • A 30% Social Security fee reduction during the next 18 months after the previous period of time.

For new Autónomos with 30 years old or over the following reductions will apply:

  • An 80% Social Security fee reduction during the first 6 months. (50 euros approximately);
  • A 50% Social Security fee reduction during the next 6 months after the previous period of time;
  • A 30% Social Security fee reduction during the next 6 months after the previous period of time.

Furthermore, an Autónomo must comply with several tax obligations, mainly to present its quarterly declarations of taxes relating VAT and Retentions made by other professionals.

Spanish Limited Company

A Limited Company is the legal structure most used in Spain to start a company. As stated above, it is necessary to hold a NIE to become a shareholder of a Company.

The main steps to incorporate a Limited Company are as follow:

  1. First of all, it is necessary to obtain the Name of the Company through a Certificate issued by the Companies Registry (Registro Mercantil).
  2. The next step is to open a bank account and to deposit the minimum share capital to incorporate a Limited Company, which is 3.000 euros. The Bank will issue a Certificate of deposit that shall be presented at a Public Notary.
  3. Both Certificates are necessary to incorporate the Limited Company before a Public Notary. All the shareholders will have to be present and sign the deed and the Articles of Associations of the Company.
  4. After signing the deed, it will be necessary to obtain the Tax Identification Number of the Company (NIF = Número de Identificación Fiscal).
  5. Finally, the incorporation of the Company will have to be registered at the Companies Registry, and the beginning of the activity shall be notified to the Tax Administration.

It is important to add that it’s necessary to appoint a Director of the Company, and that the person occupying this role will have to be registered at the Social Security as an employee or as a self employed person (Autónomo) if he or she is a shareholder of the Company with 25% or more of the share capital.

I hope that this article has served its purpose of being a general guideline to evaluate the different options that any person has prior to start a business in Spain. We support the entrepreneurial initiative and encourage any person to follow its goals.

If you have further questions or any doubts regarding initiating your project, feel free to contact us at i[email protected]

Pablo Mancía
Lawyer
www.delvy.es