Published: March 18, 2026 at 11:02 am
The founders of a new pay-as-you-train fitness booking platform met on a degree apprenticeship – and say it provided them with a springboard for success.
SPORTL, based in London, aims to help anyone access gym classes in real-time via an app and recently raised £250,000 in pre-seed investment.
It launched in London this month and will look to expand across other major UK cities in the next 12 months.
Matthew Austin and Ryan Lovelock say the Bank of England scheme was “hugely beneficial”.
“At the time it wasn’t necessarily the typical route, as many people encouraged us to take the traditional path of going straight to university,” they told BusinessCloud.
“However, the apprenticeship gave us the best of both worlds. We graduated with degrees while also gaining real, hands-on experience inside one of the world’s most respected financial institutions.
“Being surrounded by incredibly knowledgeable colleagues meant we had to mature quickly and develop a strong work ethic from an early stage in our careers.
“We quickly became close friends. Over time we moved into slightly different roles across finance and business, but we always shared an ambition to start a company together one day.”