This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
Simpact Ventures led a funding round for ForActive, in which the startup raised USD 3.6m (approximately PLN 14.2m). The company will use the money to expand and strengthen its position in the US market.
ForActive is developing an app designed for independent sports trainers and instructors. The company’s next steps involve further product development and scaling its operations in the American market – now with additional investors on board.
“ForActive is completing a seed round. It was led by the Polish fund Simpact Ventures. Polish syndicates, including Vestbee, also joined the round. The investor group additionally includes Vesna, Explorer and Bad Ideas, as well as several business angels, including former Booksy general manager Adam Górniak. The round has reached USD 3.6m (approximately PLN 14.2m),” says Konrad Howard, an investor and entrepreneur actively supporting ForActive, better known as the co-founder of Booksy.
Recently, Howard decided to reduce his operational involvement in Booksy. At the same time, he has increased his focus on developing other investment, business and technology projects, including ForActive, founded by Maciej Biegański.
Why did Simpact Ventures invest in ForActive?
The seed round is led by Polish fund Simpact Ventures. The fund currently holds the largest equity stake in the company among all investors.
“Simpact Ventures’ financial commitment exceeds USD 1.3m (approximately PLN 5.1m). Our fund is the lead investor and ultimately determines the investment parameters,” says Krzysztof Grochowski, managing partner at Simpact Ventures.
The fund was interested in ForActive not only because of the business itself, but also because of the team behind the company.
“Maciej, Konrad and Dawid – namely Maciej Biegański, CEO; Konrad Howard, investor and advisor; and Dawid Kowalski, vice president of marketing – have very specific experience from Booksy. They saw from the inside what the journey looks like from a product used by early enthusiasts to a tool that begins to become the standard across an entire category. The product itself is strong, but to be fair: if it were being built by a team without this kind of experience, we would approach it much more cautiously. In this case, we are investing in people who have already followed a similar path once before,” emphasizes Krzysztof Grochowski.
A round at the intersection of the Polish and US markets
The company’s management and investors have not disclosed the valuation ForActive achieved following the round.
“I do not like talking about valuations and prefer to rely on transaction confidentiality. At the beginning, we had difficulties reaching an agreement on this issue. It is a fairly unusual transaction. On the one hand, we have an American company with a completely different transaction and market benchmark; on the other, we have a Polish funding round. These are different realities. Fortunately, we have very mature founders, a strong willingness to reach an agreement, and a high level of trust. In addition, we have a clear exit strategy for our fund’s investment, which is not common,” says Krzysztof Grochowski.
13,000 service providers and rapidly growing transaction volumes
According to Konrad Howard, the round was completed at record speed.
“This could only have happened because ForActive proved that the project can be scaled easily,” says Konrad Howard.
In his view, ForActive’s scalability stems from the fact that the business is built around a network effect. And in sports, this effect is particularly strong – even stronger than in the beauty industry.
“People attend classes together, work out several times a week, build communities and do so frequently. This network effect therefore enables the project to grow very quickly. Once we proved that we had a playbook that could be scaled, the seed round became significantly easier,” Howard explains.
According to data provided by the company, ForActive acquired more than 13,000 service providers within a year.
“The business is growing very quickly. GMV, or the total value of transactions processed through the app, reached nearly USD 6m (approximately PLN 23.7m) in the second quarter of 2026. At the end of 2025, it stood at just over USD 1m (approximately PLN 4m). We are also very proud of our retention metrics. What this means is that customers who joined us in 2025 are still with us today and are currently earning twice as much as they were back then. The top-performing group is earning nearly four times more. These people are moving an increasing share of their business to ForActive, gaining more customers, and the platform is scaling very quickly,” says Konrad Howard.
Investor's perspective
The investment started with the team, not the product
The attention paid to the details of the go-to-market strategy and business model was also highly important. For example, a very low barrier to entry accelerates customer acquisition, with the app gradually becoming an increasingly important tool in users’ day-to-day work.
This supports high retention rates, acceptance of higher fees and the expansion of the offering as the user base grows. The product and technology team operates in Poland, while the parent company has been incorporated in Delaware. This structure makes it easier to operate in the US market and prepares the company for future funding rounds, as such a setup is well understood and accepted by international venture capital investors.
Target: independent trainers, not large chains
What is the business idea built around?
“Trainers often build very close relationships with their clients, and then, at the end of the month, there comes the awkward request: ‘Pay me again, please.’ It is uncomfortable for both sides. With ForActive, they can focus on training, while all cash flow management and administration happen in the background. In addition, the platform includes a marketplace where people can quickly find others who exercise, clubs or trainers, and simply attend classes wherever they want,” says Konrad Howard.
The fitness market already has tools for managing fitness and wellness businesses.
“At first glance, one might say: ‘There are already Mindbody, Glofox and ClassPass.’ But these solutions are designed primarily for larger players: studios, chains, clubs and more formalized businesses. ForActive is entering a completely different segment. It targets independent trainers, instructors and small academies – those who today often manage bookings through WhatsApp, Excel spreadsheets or simply their own memory. And this is where the company has an advantage. ForActive is not trying to sell them another heavy SaaS package costing several hundred dollars a month. Instead, it gives them a tool that genuinely lowers the barrier to entry: they can start for free and only pay once they begin generating meaningful revenue,” emphasizes Krzysztof Grochowski.
Sports federations as the next growth avenue
The transaction also highlights the idea of impact investing [investing in companies and projects that, alongside financial returns, aim to deliver measurable positive social or environmental impact – editor’s note].
“The founders of ForActive chose Simpact Ventures partly because they share our belief in investing that combines financial returns with positive social impact. They have a very strong understanding of funds and investment trends globally. They believe that, thanks to us and our investment philosophy, they will be able to raise their next funding round more easily in the future. Of course, in the US,” emphasizes Krzysztof Grochowski.
“Social impact is an additional project that we are launching,” says Konrad Howard.
He adds that the startup is also developing another growth avenue related to sports federations.
“Unlike the beauty industry, sports has a large number of federations. They bring together hundreds of thousands of members who pay annual fees and pay to participate in events, exams and tournaments. Imagine a taekwondo federation with 400,000 members. In Florida alone, we have already counted more than 130 different local federations. Their members continue to pay membership fees, organize trips and pay for those as well. The US has enormous potential because people like to organize themselves into communities. But they need tools to support such large-scale processes,” says Konrad Howard.
Expert's perspective
The US is not a trend, but a capital-raising strategy
The key argument remains access to a vastly larger pool of investors, who often value companies more highly than funds operating in Poland. It is worth remembering, however, that a higher valuation is not a pure gain, but part of a trade-off: it comes with higher expectations regarding growth rates and tougher investment terms. Market perception can also play an important role: a US incorporation can make discussions with investors easier, although it does not create traction on its own.
The other side of the equation is cost. Running a technology company in the US is significantly more expensive than in Poland. This is why a staged approach is often used in practice: starting with a Polish entity, building traction and securing initial funding, and only later moving the structure to the US through a so-called flip.
This sequence is not accidental. A premature flip can be costly and difficult to reverse – both from a tax perspective, when valuing and transferring intellectual property, and operationally. Starting operations in Poland allows companies to combine lower early-stage costs with later, deliberately planned access to global capital.
After Miami, Texas and California are next
The funds raised in the round will enable the company to scale its operations into additional US cities.
“We started in Miami. Now we see that we have even stronger traction in Texas and California. We are also launching new projects there. One of them is related specifically to impact investing. We want to carve out a dedicated part of the project focused solely on using sport to help children, older people and, more broadly, those who need greater inclusion and better access to physical activity.
Our service providers often want to offer free lessons, especially to children. They want to engage locally and become part of their communities. We make it easier for them to connect with potential participants and help organize various local initiatives. As a result, more people can take part in sports activities, meet others, become more active, live healthier lives and improve their mental well-being,” emphasizes Konrad Howard.
Business growth with positive social impact
Impact investing is an investment strategy focused on achieving both financial returns and positive, measurable social or environmental impact. Funds of this type invest, among others, in companies developing solutions that improve quality of life, education and healthcare, while supporting sustainable development.
“On the supply side, ForActive provides digital and operational tools to small sports service providers: trainers, instructors, local academies and community organizations. These are often entities that, without such infrastructure, remain informal, fragmented, difficult to find and challenging to scale. On the demand side, ForActive can increase access to organized sports and wellness activities for children, families and less privileged communities,” says Krzysztof Grochowski.
In his view, the platform makes sports activities more visible, easier to discover and simpler to book, making them more accessible to participants.
“This is important because in the US, children’s participation in organized sports is strongly linked to family income. I would add that sport helps address many societal challenges, such as physical and mental health, inclusion and social exclusion. I am a father of two sons myself, and sport is one of the few tools that can help pull them away from the virtual world. We have also decided that we will not charge fees to all non-profit organizations,” says Krzysztof Grochowski.
Key Takeaways
- Investors were primarily convinced by the team and its experience. The key argument for the investment was not only the product itself, but also the capabilities of ForActive’s founders and advisors. Investors emphasized that the people behind the startup had previously co-created and scaled Booksy, giving them practical experience in taking a product from its first users to a large market. This reduced the perceived risk of the project.
- The opportunity to rapidly scale the business in the US market was another major factor. ForActive operates in the segment of independent trainers and small sports service providers, where there is a strong network effect and high frequency of service usage. Within a year, the platform acquired more than 13,000 service providers and significantly increased its GMV, confirming its potential for dynamic growth in the US.
- The company structure and US market entry strategy were also important factors. Incorporation in Delaware and a focus on the American market make it easier to access global capital and engage with venture capital investors. In addition, the impact investing model and the project’s social dimension – namely, improving access to sports and supporting social inclusion – increased ForActive’s attractiveness in the eyes of funds.