Tile Five climbs higher with $1.5M seed round for Approach spinout, set to onboard 200+ gyms by year’s end

A $1.5 million funding round for Kansas City-based Approach is expected to further develop the future of gym operations — a growing industry, primed for disruption, Andrew Potter said. 

“Gym operations are becoming more and more efficient and are leveraging technology and data to help drive business decisions,” explained Potter, founding partner. 

Luke Lim, Approach, Tile Five

A platform of Tile Five, also co-founded by Potter and longtime business partner and Pipeline Entrepreneur Luke Lim, Approach is a complete gym management software solution, centered around client relationship management and simplified point-of-sale processes. 

Click here to learn more about Potter and Lim, co-founders pandemic-produced People Counter App, or here to learn more about Potter’s ROKC Climbing Gym.

“Approach is built on a well-executed data structure and is integrated with Amazon QuickSight, allowing gym owners to leverage high-end business intelligence tools and the latest technology available at an affordable price,” Potter explained. “This is giving smaller operators access to similar tools that the largest companies in the world use.”

And it works like a charm, confirms Austin, Texas-based Crux Climbing Center. Its offshoot, Crux Collective led the seed funding round, the firm announced Wednesday. 

Kevin Goradia, Crux Collective and Crux Climbing Center

“The POS system is the lifeblood of a well-run facility,” Kevin Goradia, CEO and co-founder of Crux Collective and Crux Climbing Center, said in a release. 

“In the five years since launching Crux in Austin, we’ve demoed, implemented and cycled through numerous gym management systems,” he continued. “After opening our second location and with a third under development, we knew it was time to invest in the future of our gym’s operations.”

Approach offers such a future, Goradia continued. 

“We share a collective mission with Andrew and his team to empower independent gym owners to improve and grow their businesses. Crux Collective is proud to support technology that will give gym owners a competitive edge for years to come.” 

Click here to learn more about Crux Collective and its mission.

Crux Climbing Center

As a result of the injection from Crux Collective, Approach stands to onboard 200 or more gyms  by the end of 2022, Potter told Startland News. 

“Our company is post revenue and our product is far beyond MVP, so this funding will help us to grow the part of our team that’s not focused on development and more focused on marketing, onboarding and customer support,” he said, adding the money has already allowed the company to invest in things that would otherwise be considered a “luxury” at this stage in the startup growth cycle. 

The company recently doubled down on the design of its user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) in hopes of further elevating the Approach platform. 

Crux Collective is fast moving and forward thinking, and it is evident that they are investing in the future of the climbing and fitness industry,” Potter said. 

“Now with some legitimate capital to work with — and a thought leader like Crux behind us — it really puts our company and product on another level.”

Approach is onboarding climbing gyms, yoga studios and fitness centers. Click here to learn more.

This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

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