Athlo - an app that lets you rent unused gym memberships for cash– has arrived in Dubai

Dubai: A British former rugby player has launched his smartphone app – Athlo, sometimes known as the Airbnb of fitness – in Dubai. Athlo allows gym members to sell their unused classes and recover 60 per cent of their money, addressing what he calls the ‘subscription fatigue’ plaguing the wellness industry.

Matthew Mansel, 39, founded Athlo after leaving his finance career and cancelling multiple gym memberships he couldn’t afford or fully utilise. The app, which soft-launched in the UAE in July, has already outperformed initial UK booking numbers, according to the founder.

Mansel said, “In the UK, we’ve welcomed a community of more than 17,000+ users,” adding that it is a testament to how much gym goers value flexibility. Meanwhile, in the UAE, over 5,000+ users have joined the app ahead of Athlo’s official launch.

"I personally had a tennis membership, a gym membership, and then multiple different boutique class packages at different boutique studios," Mansel said. "I just couldn't financially justify it when I left my job, so I cancelled all of those subscriptions."

How does it work?

On Athlo, you can buy membership slots and sell them. It operates on a unique resale functionality where gym members can sell unused classes to other users. When a class is sold, the original member receives 60 per cent of the value back, Athlo takes 25 per cent, and the gym gets 15 per cent as additional revenue.

"The majority of people leave their gym membership because of three reasons," Mansel said. "One is that it's too expensive. Two is they don't use it enough. And three is they don't get value for money from that subscription."

The model aims to extend customer lifetime value for gyms by preventing churn whilst providing flexibility for users who want to "build their own routine based on their own budget."

The subscription fatigue

Mansel positions Athlo as an alternative to subscription-based competitors, citing "subscription fatigue" and restrictive usage caps as market pain points.

"People are fed up paying for subscriptions that they're not using," he argued. "Our model is very, very different. We don't charge a subscription. You have ultimate flexibility. You can build your own routine based on your own budget."

Why is Athlo perfect for Dubai?

According to Mansel, Dubai was chosen as Athlo’s first international expansion due to the UAE’s "last-minute" booking culture and booming wellness sector. The app allows users to book classes just 30 minutes before they begin.

"The UAE is specific in a lot of aspects, in the sense that flexibility is super, super important here," Mansel noted. "You can be in Dubai Marina finishing your meeting and you've got an hour before you need to head somewhere, you can go on to the app and make those bookings."

In the UAE, the platform has partnered with many fitness centres, whilst also mapping the broader UAE wellness ecosystem through non-partnered bookings where users pay full price plus a booking fee.

Sport bookings are coming soon

Mansel also confirmed that Athlo will expand beyond fitness classes to include sport bookings within the coming weeks.

"We're going to be including sport within ATHLO within the coming few weeks as well. You'll be able to book your paddle, your tennis, your golf, all those types of things," he said.

This expansion aims to centralise the entire wellness, fitness and sport ecosystem on one platform, differentiating Athlo from its competitors.

From rugby to fitness tech

Mansel's journey from Bath Rugby academy to finance and finally to fitness tech spans nearly two decades. After a rugby injury ended his professional sports aspirations in France, he spent over a decade working for a family office, gaining experience in business deployment and financials.

"Sport, wellness, health has always been a big part of my life because of my background," said Mansel, whose mother was a national tennis player. "My father was a big sportsman as well. So, it's kind of inbred in the family to stay active."

New round of funding

Having completed two funding rounds - a pre-seed with founding friends and a later round with institutional funds and private investors – Athlo is planning its third funding round towards the end of 2025.

The company is exploring corporate wellness opportunities in the UAE, where Mansel believes allocated budgets "potentially are not being utilised as best they probably could be."

The company plans to "really nail" its UAE impact before expanding further into the GCC, with Mansel emphasising "cooperation over competition" in the growing regional wellness market.