Flexible Pass, a Graduate of the Yangon chapter of the Founder Institute, recently received a $100,000 investment for their fitness subscription program. The investment was led by Seed Myanmar, an early-stage technology investment vehicle of Singapore-based Vulpes Investment Management.
Flexible Pass provides users with access to more than 60 gyms and fitness centres throughout Yangon. Their vision is to help people in Myanmar live a healthier lifestyle by connecting them with a wide variety of affordable and flexible fitness options. Currently, Flexible Pass can be used through its mobile application, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, and can be used for gym usage, as well as access to over 100 fitness classes like yoga, swimming, boxing, indoor skydiving, rock climbing, and other special fitness events, with more categories to be added to their service.
Our aim is to offer an extensive fitness platform for people’s convenience. As urbanisation gathers pace in Yangon, people move around a lot. We believe they will prefer a pass that can be used everywhere they go, rather than a permanent membership at a single gym or fitness centre.
The company was founded in 2017 by Sully Bholat when he graduated from the Founder Institute’s Yangon chapter. During the program’s rigorous three and a half month duration, Sully and Flexible Pass were one of only six to graduate - after joining a class of 24 Founders. Because of the intense structure and expert feedback from local business leaders, Sully managed to refine his idea into a viable tech startup, one that is currently experiencing growth of almost 20 per cent on a monthly basis, according to him.
While Flexible Pass has only been in business for little more than a year, the company has made considerable progress and garnered widespread recognition in such a short a amount of time, and with only a team of about eight people. In 2017, Flexible Pass got the opportunity to represent their country in the Westerwelle Young Founders Programme in Berlin, Germany. They were also recipients of the “Startup of the Year” and “Best Healthy Lifestyle Tech Startup” awards in the Myanmar Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2017, and were among the nominees in Asean Rice Bowl Awards 2017. And in June of this, the company was one of the 20 startups selected by Pitch@PalaceAsean to present in front of Britain’s Duke of York in Singapore.
When looking at how much success Flexible Pass has achieved, it’s no shock to discover that the company’s founder and CEO, Sully Bholat, has an impressive background, as well. Prior to launching Flexible Pass, Sully received his Bachelor of Business Management in International Business from the University of Queensland, where he also served as the Alumni Global Connections Coordinator for Yangon, and has a certificate in Negotiation Mastery from Harvard Business school. He has also volunteered for such organizations as Computers for Malaysia and Malaysian Global Outreach.
We cover nearly 70 different locations in Yangon, and have plans to expand to Mandalay over the next few months. We will try to reach everywhere in Myanmar over time.
With Sully Bholat at helm and a string of successes in just over a year, the future is looking bright for Flexible Pass. In the first year alone, the company has secured over 5,000 bookings, and plans to reach 100,000 bookings by the end of this year. The company also hopes to triple the number of users over the next two months, and plans to expand to other cities outside of Yangon, as well as expand the number health and fitness categories they currently offer.
