Harbiz

High-Level Overview

Harbiz is a SaaS platform for fitness and wellness professionals, providing tools for client management, scheduling, progress tracking, payments, nutrition plans, and community building to help trainers scale their businesses digitally.[1][2][3] It serves personal trainers, yoga instructors, physiotherapists, and nutritionists, solving operational inefficiencies by automating admin tasks, offering data analytics for customer retention, and enabling personalized client experiences amid rising demand for online fitness solutions.[1][2][3] With over 7,000 professionals and 150,000 end-users across 40 countries, Harbiz has shown strong growth, doubling turnover year-over-year and raising €5 million in 2024 funding led by Octopus Ventures to expand in the UK and Germany.[1][2]

Origin Story

Harbiz was founded in 2020 by Mario Morante (CEO) and Javier Ortega in Madrid, Spain, evolving from their earlier project Dudyfit, which began as a marketplace connecting personal trainers with clients.[1][2][4] The duo, fitness enthusiasts frustrated by the lack of comprehensive tools for Spanish professionals, spent over two years developing the marketplace but pivoted in April 2019 after recognizing its high funding needs and complexity; they relaunched as a SaaS platform in February 2020.[1][4] This shift gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, as digital fitness demand surged, allowing self-taught founders to build resilience amid funding rejections—securing initial rounds totaling €3.4 million before the €5 million milestone.[1][2][4]

Core Differentiators

• All-in-One Automation: Handles scheduling with client calendars, reminders, payments via subscriptions or packages, and admin tasks, freeing trainers from manual work.[2][3][5]
• Client Engagement Tools: Progress tracking, personalized nutrition plans (with 100+ recipes), exercise video libraries (800+ videos), gamification, and communities for challenges and motivation.[1][3][5]
• Business Intelligence: Data analytics for customer behavior, retention, cross-selling; plus education on marketing, sales, and branding rarely covered in professional training.[1][3]
• Branding and Scalability: Customizable apps with logos/colors, personal web pages, and AI integrations planned for enhanced user experience; multilingual support for global reach.[1][2][3]
• Ease of Use: No-code webpage creation, content uploads, and team management, praised as the "definitive platform" for digitizing fitness businesses.[3]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Harbiz rides the wave of fitness digitization accelerated by COVID-19, capitalizing on the shift to hybrid/online training in a $100B+ global wellness market where professionals lack integrated tools.[1][4] Its timing aligns with post-pandemic hybrid models, AI-driven personalization, and subscription economies, enabling small operators to compete with gyms via scalable SaaS.[1][2] By serving 40 countries and focusing on underserved pros like nutritionists, Harbiz influences the ecosystem through innovation (e.g., analytics, communities) and funding-fueled expansion, positioning Spain as a fintech-fitness hub while challenging incumbents like Trainerize.[2][3][5]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Harbiz is poised for global leadership with its €5M funding fueling AI enhancements, UK/German growth, and product innovation to hit 100% online client management.[2] Trends like AI personalization, remote wellness, and pro-sumer fitness apps will propel it, potentially tripling users as economic pressures favor affordable SaaS over physical spaces. Its influence may evolve from regional disruptor to ecosystem enabler, partnering with more VCs like Octopus Ventures—watch for acquisitions or IPO as it scales beyond Europe, building on the digital revolution that turned a marketplace pivot into a thriving platform.[1][2]