Barbell Logic raises $2.3M in funding round

Jordan Gross: It was a “no-brainer” to invest in the company’s growth.

Springfield fitness company Barbell Logic Inc. recently closed an initial $2.3 million Series A funding round, as part of a $4 million goal.

Matt Reynolds, owner and CEO of the online-based business, which provides strength, nutrition and fitness coaching, said Barbell Logic is seeking an additional $1.7 million in capital over the next four months as it expands TurnKey Coach, its proprietary software platform, primarily in the private market.

Reynolds said the company is being strategic about its funding sources for the capital raise, which started roughly two months ago.

“I’ve focused on just angel investors as opposed to venture capital, private equity or other funding sources,” he said. “With institutional capital, things can get more complicated – and the percentage that the institutions often want of the business, we weren’t willing to give that up.”

Reynolds said the main use of the funds will be to invest more in TurnKey Coach through marketing, advertising and social media.

“Most all of our investors are in for between $250,000 to $700,000,” he said, noting Jordan Gross and Wayde Milas are the company’s lead investors, with both contributing more than $1 million.

Seed investor
Gross, who Reynolds said is a seed investor and client of Barbell Logic, retired from the NFL in 2014 after playing his entire 11-year career as an offensive lineman for the Carolina Panthers.

“After a long NFL career, I really was looking for an online-based way to continue top-level training while receiving incredible coaching. Barbell Logic fit that bill perfectly,” said Gross, via email. Gross now works as head football coach at Idaho’s Fruitland High School.

After seven years as a client, he said, “It was a no-brainer for me to invest and help support the growth of the company.”

He added, “Barbell Logic can change the quality of life in individuals, and I look forward to being a part of it.”

Milas, another key investor, is president and owner of Willowbrook, Illinois-based Rare Coin Company of America Inc. Milas said he also connected with Reynolds as a client and liked the business model.

Barbell Logic, which has 23 full-time employees and 55 contract workers, was founded in 2016 as Starting Strength Online Coaching. The home-based venture provides online strength and health coaching, including a podcast, YouTube channel and Barbell Academy training program.

Adding sectors
The funding comes on the heels of the company adding business-to-business and government sectors this year. Reynolds said Barbell Logic’s valuation after the $2.3 million capital raise is $37.7 million.

The company was awarded a $1.25 million federal contract earlier this year, which resulted in working with the U.S. Air Force. He said the program uses TurnKey Coach and private online strength and health coaching to help improve physical fitness assessment scores of airmen and reduce nonbattle injuries. Roughly 500 are being trained through the project, estimated to last 18 months.

The contract was earned through the Small Business Innovation Research program, for which the U.S. Small Business Administration serves as the coordinating agency. Reynolds said the government has already reached out to extend the contract for an additional 24 months at $1.9 million. That would add another roughly 1,000 people to train in the military flights, the Air Force term for units.

While Barbell Logic had to submit another proposal for the contract extension, he feels good about his chances.

“As long as we can properly dot the i’s and cross the t’s, then we’re going to get it. We officially sent in a submission for that last month,” he said, noting a response could come by year’s end.

The Air Force work is helping the fitness company move toward a new revenue record, Reynolds said, estimating it will finish the year around $3.7 million. It would mark a second straight year to surpass the previous year’s revenue as the projected total is expected to be up roughly 27% from 2022.

“We’ll have our first $1 million quarter in Q4, for sure,” he said.

Reynolds said he’s connected with current clients, several of which are business owners, as he expands TurnKey Coach into the business-to-business market. A soft launch was held around two months ago, and he said the company has since accumulated 91 clients – all operating outside of the Springfield area. The software platform’s website, TurnKey.coach, promotes a trio of payment plans, with prices ranging $3, $5 and $10 per client, per month.

“It allows online trainers or coaches the ability to coach clients from anywhere in the world and give the clients the opportunity to train anywhere they want, any time they want with the equipment they have,” he said.

Neil Marr, owner and lone employee of Neil Marr Golf, which provides golf coaching and lessons, said he was impressed with TurnKey Coach after working with Reynolds as a client. As a head teaching professional since 2000 at Meldrum House Country Hotel & Golf Course, near Aberdeen, Scotland, Marr said he’s now getting golfing clients to strength train.

“I’m now using TurnKey Coach to improve my golfers’ games and their fitness, too,” he said via email.