CHAPEL HILL—Localfit, a startup founded by former professional baseball players, is officially launching its health club membership program for travelers Tuesday, September 25, although it did a soft launch last week.

Founded in 2017 by former pro-ball pitchers and teammates Rob Gilliam and Andrew Carignan, the idea for Localfit evolved from  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill business classes in entrepreneurship. After suffering career-ending injuries, Carignan and Gilliam returned to school at UNC-CH to finish their degrees.

Among their classes where they hatched the idea for Localfit were Intro to Entrepreneurship, taught by Buck Goldstein and Entrepreneurship and Business Planning taught by Jim Kitchen.

Rob Gilliam pitching. Photo by Kevin Pataky/MiLB.com)

Gilliam, who was a “power-pitcher” had two surgeries on his shoulder that reduced his pitching speed from 90-plus miles an hour for the Oakland A’s minor league team to the low 80-miles an hour. “That finished me in baseball,” he said. Carignan, who pitched in the majors, also suffered career-stopping injuries.

After graduating, the two added additional Localfit co-founders, also former baseball players, Tom Sheldon, Lee Gilliam and Ian Phillips. The founders self-funded the company.

“Initially we thought of it as an Airbnb for gyms,” said Gilliam in an interview with WRAL TechWire. Developing a software model proved difficult because of the need to integrate with a wide range of fitness club management systems, so the company pivoted to a card-based model more like Movie-Pass that requires no integration.

The Localfit membership card among other healthy items. Localfit photo.

Localfit uses proprietary mobile, GPS, and financial technologies to power its service and has partnered with Mastercard and Marqeta, which gave it unlimited and rapid scalability. Members can fine in-network health clubs and studios using the Localfit app, then use their membership card for actual access. “We made a conscious effort to choose only the top quality clubs in each area for our network,” said Gilliam. “We choose only the cream of the crop.”

The company already has more than 5,000 facilities available to members nationally, with a focus on large cities visited by business travelers, but in smaller markets as well. Members choose from 3-months for $19.95, 6-months for $13.95 or yearlong plans at $11.95 a month. WRAL TechWire readers can use the promotional code: LAUNCH-50 to receive a 50 percent discount on any plan.

Creating unique experiences

Since day passes at gyms and clubs can run as high as $50, the program is ideal for business travelers or anyone else on the road frequently. “We’re specifically targeting the business traveler,” Gilliam said. But in the future, it plans to develop fitness excursions such as mountain hikes or other experiences. Initially, said Gilliam, it will seek partnerships with others offering those experiences and eventually create Localfit branded ones. “We want to create unique experiences.”

Unlike MoviePass and the fitness app, ClassPass, Localfit has restrictions. Members cannot use it for any club or studio within 35 miles of their location, so they do not compete with local club membership programs.

Localfit ran a beta-test for seven months with 2,000 users and 500 clubs and it proved profitable. It pays the gyms and studios their day-rate, although it sometimes negotiates lower than usual day rate fees. “As we grow and provide out-of-town customers, we may re-negotiate some of those fees,” Gilliam said.

That’s one thing that differentiates Localfit from MoviePass, he noted. “MoviePass has not been able to negotiate better rates with theatres because movie tickets are theatres main offering and theatres do not want to devalue ticket prices. Gyms have been more than happy to negotiate better rates with us because out-of-town guest passes are not their main offering and anything we bring them is a bonus. This gives us another advantage and way to increase margins.

“Getting people active is our ultimate vision,” he said. “How many times are people traveling stuck in a hotel? We want people to get out and do stuff.