A tech-for-good platform which helps schools hire out facilities outside teaching hours has clocked up 10 million visits this year.
Manchester-based Vivify was founded in 2020 and has also generated £10m in additional funding for the schools it works with.
The figures come off the back of the tech scaleup winning the Healthy Communities Award at the prestigious UKActive Awards 2023.
Russell Teale, founder and CEO at Vivify, said: “We’re revolutionising the way people access facilities to stay healthier and live longer.
“Schools need money. They need to generate extra revenue. They often have facilities that are under-utliised and with 40 per cent of the UK’s sporting facilities behind school gates – Vivify’s tech platform is the solution.
“We’re very proud to have reached the £10m milestone of additional funding we’ve generated for schools.
“The money goes into anything from rising energy bills to teaching and support staff. This also equates into £50m of social value for our communities.”
Vivify recently moved into larger premises in Piccadilly Place, Manchester and now employs 32 staff in its head office and another 300 in schools across the UK.
Hundreds of gyms, pools and leisure centres have closed since the pandemic with rising energy costs being one contributory factor.
Vivify recently stepped in to take over the running of the previously council-operated Northgate Sports Centre in Ipswich, ending months of uncertainty for the local residents.
The company now works with 170 schools with additional venues being added every month.
Vivify’s non-executive chairman Richard Millman said: “Vivify’s model is very scalable. The one thing that all countries have got in common are education and leisure facilities, so we’re really only scratching the surface at the moment in terms of growth opportunities.
“We’re adding between 10-20 schools a month and the churn is less than 2 per cent so we’ve got a really sticky revenue model. Every time we open a school we normally generate between three and five jobs.”
Teale said he was proud to have clocked up 10 million visits this year and winning the Healthy Communities Award at the ukactive Awards 2023.
After securing a £1m investment in 2021 from Liverpool-based Arete, Vivify acquired fellow school lettings business, Community Hire and is tracking to hit £7m turnover this year.
The CEO said: “Exercise is good on so many levels. It improves mental and physical wellbeing, reduces loneliness, increases confidence and makes people feel better about life.
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“That’s why we founded Vivify, to make it easier for people to find spaces to get together and help schools generate much-needed income.”