Valkaïa: How two entrepreneurs brought CrossFit, Hyrox and Pilates under one roof
About Valkaïa
Valkaïa is a multi-discipline gym in Pau, founded in July 2025 by Arthur and Julie. CrossFit, Hyrox, fitness and Pilates sit side by side under one roof, with experienced coaches and small groups.
The idea: more than a gym, a community built around sport
Valkaïa was born from a chance encounter. On one side, Arthur, an athlete passionate about coaching, programming and sports performance. On the other, Julie, passionate about numbers, management and Excel spreadsheets. Two very different profiles, but two entrepreneurs. Three months after they met, Valkaïa opened its doors in Pau, in July 2025.
Their bet: bringing together disciplines that attract very different people under one roof. CrossFit, Hyrox, fitness, Pilates, all driven by the same desire to move, progress and push themselves.
A bet that meets a real demand: according to bsport’s Fitness Studio Playbook, 85% of boutique fitness enthusiasts practise more than one activity, but often in different studios. At Valkaïa, they find everything under one roof.
“Here, someone who does CrossFit can train alongside someone who only comes for Pilates, and everyone is part of the same family.”
Competitions, events, parties: life at the gym goes well beyond training. And for the founders, the greatest success is seeing strangers become friends thanks to Valkaïa.
One detail makes the adventure even more demanding: Arthur and Julie each have a full-time job on the side. They build Valkaïa in their free time, which requires particularly rigorous organisation.
Four months with the wrong software
Valkaïa didn’t start out with bsport. The founders first chose another management software, and that first experience cost them time, energy and stress.
“A tool that’s supposed to make your life easier can end up creating extra work when it doesn’t meet your needs and doesn’t deliver on its promises.”
Yet a multi-discipline gym leaves no room for approximation: a packed schedule, memberships that vary by frequency and discipline, bookings, waitlists, recurring payments. Just four months after opening, Arthur and Julie decided to switch to bsport, on the recommendation of Prana studio, a bsport customer since 2023.
“The richness of bsport’s features, the automation possibilities and having all our management in one place made the difference.”
Managing with data, automating the rest
A CrossFit class, a Hyrox session and a Pilates class don’t attract the same crowd. To know which time slots fill up in each discipline, Valkaïa uses Insights every day: fill rates, most popular slots, then adjusting the schedule and class types accordingly.
“It’s a real decision-making tool.”
For Julie, the numbers person of the duo, the dashboard is the other must-have tool. Revenue, sign-ups, membership trends: everything is visible at a glance.
“In a few seconds, we know where we stand, without having to run multiple searches or data exports.”
Sign-ups, memberships, direct debits and bookings are now largely automated. So is communication with members: with Audience, scenarios are set up once, then messages go out automatically at the right time. For two founders who work full-time elsewhere, that changes everything.
“It lets us spend our time on what no software will ever do for us: growing Valkaïa and bringing our community to life.”
A partner that anticipates the needs of a fast-growing gym
Valkaïa is growing fast, and its needs are changing just as quickly. Arthur and Julie describe themselves as demanding and never hesitate to share what they need. But what they appreciate most is that bsport sometimes evolves before they’ve even made a request.
“We sometimes discover new features that address needs we hadn’t yet identified or expressed.”
For them, that’s exactly what you expect from a technology partner: understanding the real constraints of a gym and evolving the tool accordingly.
+23% active members, and soon 1,300 m²
Since January, Valkaïa has grown from 370 to 454 active members. The founders attribute this growth to the quality of their classes, the variety of their offer and word of mouth: their members are their best ambassadors. bsport, for its part, makes it possible to absorb this volume of bookings, payments and interactions without weighing down the organisation.
“bsport lets us manage this growth efficiently and keep focusing on what makes members come and stay: the experience we offer them.”
On the revenue side, 78% of revenue comes from recurring memberships, mainly 12-month commitments. But the goal is never to sell the most expensive plan.
“A member who has chosen the right plan, enjoys coming and is making progress is a member who will stay.”
The next step is already underway: Valkaïa 2.0. In January 2027, the gym is moving a few metres from its current location and going from around 700 to 1,300 m² dedicated to sport, with more equipment and a new activity, Reformer Pilates. Arthur and Julie chose to grow rather than cap the number of members.
“The real challenge will be to keep growing without losing the human touch we care so much about.”
Advice for anyone looking to open a gym
1. Don’t underestimate the management side
A passion for sport is essential, but it isn’t enough. Finance, HR, communication, customer relations, organisation: opening a gym also means running a business.
“Running a gym also means running a business, with everything that entails.”
2. Have a strong identity
You need to know what you want to bring that’s different. For Valkaïa, it’s the variety of disciplines combined with a real community spirit.
3. Get the right tools from day one
Arthur and Julie learned this first-hand: switching software four months after opening is costly. Better to choose the right tool from the start and automate everything that can be automated.
“Time is probably our most precious resource as entrepreneurs, and we have to avoid wasting it on tasks that can be automated.”
4. Never forget the people
Behind the numbers, memberships and bookings, there are people.
“A gym can have the best equipment in the world: it’s the people who bring it to life.”
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