Australian-founded fitness franchise REVL Training is entering the U.S. and Canadian markets, with Florida identified as its first priority for U.S. expansion as the company pursues a target of more than 100 studios across 10 countries by 2028.
The strength and conditioning business, which launched in 2020, says it now operates more than 50 studios across six countries and has a global membership base exceeding 12,000. The North American launch forms part of a five-year growth plan that also calls for membership to surpass 20,000 by 2028.
REVL is seeking franchise partners in the United States, including experienced fitness operators, entrepreneurs and multi-unit investors. The company is also inviting prospective partners to explore opportunities in Canada as it expands beyond its existing markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
Josh Mildren, co-founder of REVL Training, said the company’s expansion plans are based on its approach to programming, community building and studio operations.
“Everyone thought we were crazy when we launched in June 2020; but what’s driven every decision since is an uncompromising belief in the product – the programming, the culture, and the standard. That belief is what’s taken us from four studios in Australia to 50+ across six countries. The gap in this market for what we do is real, and we intend to own it.”
Structured training model
REVL’s business model centres on strength and conditioning programs organized into 13-week training blocks. The company says its programming uses defined sets, repetitions and percentages of one-repetition maximum or three-repetition maximum, with progressive increases in training demands built into each cycle.
The approach is intended to provide a more structured alternative to group fitness formats, combining performance-focused programming with a community studio environment. The company positions that model as a key differentiator as it enters North America.
REVL reports member attrition of less than five per cent across its global network, while average studio membership exceeds 200. Its top-performing locations in Australia have more than 350 members, according to the company.
The franchise operates in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan. Its expansion into the U.S. and Canada would extend the business beyond those six markets and introduce its operating model to a new group of franchise investors.
Beyond its training programs, REVL’s business includes a distinct studio design, community events and franchise support systems. The company describes its studio aesthetic as featuring four black walls, supported by a creative identity intended to distinguish its locations from other fitness businesses.
Its events program includes Studio Games, REVL Pace, REVL Underground and Race The Globe, an annual flagship race event. The company says Race The Globe attracted 1,000 athletes in Singapore earlier in 2026 and is intended to draw more than 700 athletes in Brisbane in October 2026.
The franchise support offering includes Area Developer agreements, programming systems, marketing infrastructure and support from a franchisor team focused on studio profitability. These services are intended to help franchisees establish and operate studios, including entrepreneurs opening their first location and operators converting an existing fitness business.
Franchise partners sought
Ben Woolford, REVL co-founder, said the company wants to attract operators looking to build businesses over the longer term, rather than simply acquire franchise territories.
“We see REVL not just as a franchise but as a platform for ambitious operators. Whether you’re launching your first studio or converting an existing brand, our goal is to give you the tools, data and community to build a long-term, profitable business in a sector that is still highly fragmented. We’ve never been more certain that the right time to bring this into the US is now.”
The company’s expansion plans will depend on attracting franchise partners as it works toward its 2028 targets. Florida is the initial priority for U.S. growth, while national franchise opportunities are available to prospective partners elsewhere in the country.
REVL is accepting franchise enquiries through its website at revltraining.com.au.
In an interview with Retail Insider, Mildren and Woolford talked about the business.
Why has REVL chosen the U.S. and Canada as its next major expansion market, and why is Florida the first priority for the brand?
Woolford: North America is one of the largest boutique fitness markets in the world, and when we looked at it closely, we saw plenty of scale but very little structure. There’s no shortage of group fitness models, but very few brands deliver intensity – or properly programmed, progressive strength and conditioning inside a boutique community-centric studio.
The timing is also right. REVL has 53 studios currently operating across six countries, more than 12,000 members and a member attrition rate below 5 per cent – against an industry average of around 24 per cent. With the U.S. and Canada, that footprint now extends to eight markets.
So, a North American franchise partner isn’t being asked to bet on an unproven concept. The model was built in Australia and proven across Asia-Pacific, where REVL is now the region’s fastest-growing boutique fitness franchise.
Florida is our first priority because the conditions align: a strong year-round training culture, an active and sophisticated franchise market, and a cost of entry that gives new operators room to build properly. New York and Los Angeles are the obvious choices, but realistically they’re also the most saturated and expensive markets for a new operator. We’d rather establish the model where it has the best chance to take hold (with the right operator), then expand from there.
From a real estate perspective, REVL has three bespoke studio models:
CONCEPT
1,300–2,150 SQ FT
CLASS RANGE: Sweat and Perform
FRONT OF HOUSE: Self-service check-in
FIT OUT: Our most compact footprint. Inner city, basement-style and multi-level spaces with the ability to run broad time slots for unit economics.
SIGNATURE
1,900 –3,250 SQ FT
CLASS RANGE: Full class range
FRONT OF HOUSE: Reception and waiting space
FIT OUT: Our classic REVL floor plan. Warehouse, showroom or larger retail spaces. Suburban, industrial and street frontage locations.
FLAGSHIP
3,250+ SQ FT
CLASS RANGE: Full class range
FRONT OF HOUSE: Larger reception, luxury amenities
FIT OUT: Deluxe, high-profile locations. Large retail, showroom and industrial, warehouse-style space. A1 locations as a proof point in new and major markets.
Canada is part of the same North American strategy rather than a separate project, which is why Toronto made sense as a natural trajectory in our expansion plan.
But across both markets, we lead with the right partner – rather than launching for the sake of expansion. Our franchise partners need to buy into the brand, the way we train and the standard we hold every studio to. Our model, paired with the right partner in the right location, will always outperform a fast rollout – and that’s key to long-term, sustainable growth.
What does REVL believe is missing from the current Canadian and U.S. boutique fitness market, and how does its structured strength-and-conditioning model address that gap?
Woolford: Choice isn’t the problem in the North American boutique fitness market. What’s missing is structured, uncapped progression. Most boutique formats are built around the single session: members turn up, get a ‘hard’ workout and leave, and the following week looks much the same. That works for a while, but eventually people plateau and drift.
At REVL, members train across periodised 13-week blocks with defined sets, reps and %’s of 1RM/3RM – progressive overload built into every cycle, within a community studio format that drives results most boutique brands cannot sustain. Classes are deliberately capped so coaches know where every member is in their program and can provide a personalised experience – in real time. By the end of each cycle, members can measure exactly what they’ve gained. And that structure also makes commercial sense for franchise partners. Structure keeps members, and member retention is what makes a studio profitable.
Mildren: REVL exists to unlock human potential. Our members come from everywhere: personal training, big-box gyms, other boutique formats. What they have in common is that they want tangible progress. They come to us to get stronger and fitter, but they stay for the community. That person exists in every city in Canada and the U.S.
Over the past year, we’ve witnessed the mass shift towards social fitness and hybrid racing. People crave real, in-person experiences, and they want more reasons to train. Our program already builds the strength and conditioning that those events demand. We have a lot of our members currently participating in marathons, triathlons, HYROX and other hybrid competitions. But what we saw was a gap for REVL, as a brand, to own that space.
That’s why we built our own events ecosystem, from our PACE Run Program to local Studio Games through to REVL Underground and our flagship Race The Globe. It gives members something to train towards, a place to test what they’ve built and a club culture that extends beyond the studio walls. We never stray far from our core product. But that foundation lets us give members so much more.
REVL reports a member attrition rate of less than 5 per cent globally; what are the main factors behind that retention rate, and how confident are you that it can be replicated in North America?
Mildren: REVL’s retention comes down to three things that only work together. The first is visible progress. On a 13-week training cycle, members know what they lifted in week one and what they’re lifting in week 13, and it’s hard to walk away from something that’s clearly working. The second is the quality of our coaching. Every REVL coach goes through accreditation and ongoing development, and our coaches live and breathe the product. They’re not just running a class; they know the program, they know their members and they know how to deliver the full REVL experience.The third is culture. At REVL, you never train alone. Members work in pairs and teams, alongside people who are equally committed and driven by a shared intensity, and our events give everyone something to aim for. We have members who’ve been training with REVL for five and six years who are still progressing today.
Something else that’s worth noting, is that a lot of our franchisee’s have been existing members – and 80% of new studio openings come from existing franchisees, which is a testament to the brand and model, its results, and the benefits that our members, coaches and franchisees see.
Woolford: I’m confident REVL’s retention can be replicated in North America, but it’s not something we take for granted. We’ve seen the same retention in markets as different as Sydney, Singapore and Seoul, which tells us the model is driving the results, not the location. What we protect are the conditions behind it: the right franchise partners, coaching standards that don’t slip, and franchisor support that continues long after a studio opens. Retention is earned studio by studio, and our North American studios will be held to exactly the same standard as the rest of the network.
What is the investment required to open a REVL studio in North America, and what are the typical economics, including membership levels, revenue expectations and path to profitability, for franchisees?
Woolford: The total investment to open a REVL studio in North America typically ranges from US $371,500 – $911,500. That covers the franchise fee, studio build-out, a premium equipment and technology package, pre-opening marketing, hands-on training at REVL’s headquarters in Sydney, and initial working capital. Three flexible studio formats let partners match the model to their market: the Concept (1,300–2,150 sq ft), the Signature (1,900–3,250 sq ft) and the Flagship (3,250+ sq ft). Studios are backed by a 10-year franchise term with a renewal option, and partners get dedicated support from REVL’s real estate, design and project management teams from site selection through opening day.
For experienced multi-site operators, REVL offers Area Development Agreements that secure the rights to build a portfolio of studios across a defined development area. A single upfront development fee replaces the individual franchise fee on each studio, and the per-studio cost falls as the portfolio grows. It drops from US $50,000 for one studio to about US$40,000 per studio for three, US $34,000 for five,and under US $30,000 per studio for a 10-studio commitment (US $299,500 total). The three studio formats also give developers the flexibility to fit each site in their territory, from high-street Concept studios to destination Flagships.
Full details are set out in REVL’s franchise disclosure documents, which prospective partners receive during the franchising process.
On economics, membership is the number REVL focuses on, because it drives everything else. Across our global network, studios average more than 200 members, and our top-performing Australian locations exceed 350. Combined with attrition below 5 per cent, that creates a stable base of recurring revenue.
REVL’s franchise model is built around studio profitability rather than territory sales. Before co-founding REVL, I was a fitness franchisee myself, so I know what it’s like to invest everything and then be left to figure it out alone.
Our franchise partners are supported from before they sign a lease to long after their doors open. We start with site selection and lease negotiation, backed by financial modelling, store budgets and break-even forecasts, so partners know what their studio will cost and what it needs to achieve before they commit. From there, we handle test fits, floor planning and equipment procurement, and run a pre-sale campaign so studios open with a member base already in place. Every coach is onboarded and accredited before day one.
Once a studio is trading, partners receive the programming, marketing infrastructure, operating systems and ongoing support to reach profitability and stay there, including quarterly business planning, marketing calendars, member acquisition support and access to our global events program. Supporting our existing network isn’t a side of the business. It’s an integral part of it.
What are REVL’s specific expansion plans for Canada, including target cities, the number of studios it hopes to open and the timeline for establishing a Canadian presence?
Woolford: REVL is targeting 20 studios across Canada within the first 24 months, beginning in the Greater Toronto Area, where we already have sites locked in. Ontario is our first-to-grow market, with strong interest already coming from Mississauga and London.
We’d noticed the gap in North America long before we made any plans, but the real proof point for Toronto came when our Canadian franchise partner reached out to us three years ago.
We’ve explored the market and how the model would fit; identifying the gaps unique to Canada. Three years on, our partner’s view remains the same as ours. There was, and still is, nothing else like REVL in the Canadian market. We’re working closely with them ahead of their first studio opening in Q1 2027.
More from Retail Insider:
