Longevity, a startup providing longevity products, services, education and advice to subscribers, has launched a digital platform and will open its first club in Milton Keynes on 1 February.
The second location is due to launch in North London in March and a third shortly after – in the next 12 months Longevity intends to open ten UK clubs. Veteran fitness industry leader Neil King – whose previous role was CEO at Energie Fitness – co-founded the company with Alister Rollins, founder and CEO of MoveGB. Rollins will take the role of chair while King will become CEO.
King says Longevity will commercialise the science and technology of age reversal, under a B2B2C business model that combines the scalability of a tech business with a venue-based health club called Longevity Lounges. The goal is to reduce a members’ bio-age and “provide members with the tools to age younger”.
Longevity is initially going to target the 40-plus market – and will partner with golf clubs to cost-effectively access this demographic – with fitness positioned as only part of the solution.
“We're not only going to provide a solution which slows down and reverses ageing, we're going to challenge the whole concept of ageing,” said King. “Working with scientific partners, we use an individual’s DNA to prescribe exercise programmes and scientifically track bio-age reduction through epigenetics and cellular and gut health.
"Longevity goes well beyond the traditional fitness industry’s advice of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five times a week, it’s about looking at a person from the inside out and making sure that everything is working as well as it can be from a cellular level.”
Subscribers can expect quarterly proprietary age assessments covering gut, DNA and functional fitness biological measurements. King says that they have brought a raft of scientific experts on board who will provide coaching and advice to members. The company supports clients’ progress through products, online support and access to the Longevity Lounges.
Once the model has been validated, King and Rollins intend to scale rapidly in the UK and globally over the next five years.
“We’re not doing the traditional property route with landlords, property lawyers, leases and so on, we’re looking at a different sort of concession-based route to market,” said King. “We will be taking advantage of underutilised space in existing facilities and providing the owner of the building with a revenue share on the model. These might be a private hospital, a golf club, a hotel or even an existing fitness chain – there are numerous routes to market.”
A typical Longevity Lounge will be 1,000sq ft with around 350 weekly active members, but will serve a larger market with quarterly bio-age assessments. The fitness area will cover around 600sq ft. The rest is a dedicated space for testing, analysis and education. A range of subscriptions will be offered, depending on the breadth of the service the customer requires and whether or not they will be joining one of the physical clubs.
“The longevity space will be a huge and booming market,” said Rollins. “The science in this space is progressing rapidly with leading experts predicting we will have the means to reverse ageing in the years to come. We believe we have the business model and the team to be the trusted brand for consumers to access scientifically-validated solutions and lifestyle coaching.”
The startup is currently closing its seed round of investment and there is some remaining allocation available for value-adding investors seeking SEIS/EIS investment opportunities.
