GymBeam Secures Six Million in Funding for E-Commerce Platform

GymBeam, a Slovak e-commerce company, recently reached an investment goal of six million euros via Crowdberry, a Czech-Slovak crowd-funding platform from both private and public investment. The deal has been hailed as the largest investment in e-commerce in Slovakia’s history.

GymBeam, which is based in Košice and develops and sells a variety of products from brands centered around nutrition and active living, was founded in 2014. Since then, it has grown to operate in over a dozen central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries, growing its annual income from roughly 5 million euros to over 20 million.

According to Crowdberry’s Dano Gašpar, GymBeam’s regional e-commerce strategy is poised to dominate any competition, “bringing a digital revolution” to an industry that has largely remained “offline” in this portion of the world.

One of the company’s main methods of success is its ability to quickly respond to trends and analysis with innovative promotional solutions. This is highly effective due to the community-based character of its audience. Over time, this has allowed the brand to spread quickly and win loyal customers at a staggering rate.

For investors, be they through Crowdberry or elsewhere, GymBeam represents a great opportunity to back a growth-oriented company that has undeniable value as a market leader in Central and Eastern Europe.

According to Dalibor Cicman, GymBeam’s founder, though the company currently only ships some 4,000 packages a day, the goal is to use automation to improve distribution across the board. They also plan on creating a new development and manufacturing centre, which will hopefully allow them to surpass 100 million euros in turnover by 2024.

This is all quite ambitious for a company that currently employs only 150 individuals, yet Cicman stands by the talent and creativity of his local CE Košice team and CE business partners. With no plans to relocate the CEE headquarters, experts predict GymBeam’s development will prove quite beneficial to the region, creating more jobs and attracting new investment.

One of GymBeam’s main backers is SIH. When asked about GymBeam’s ability to grow during the COVID-19 epidemic, SIH General Director Ivan Lesay expressed gratefulness at finding a Slovak company innovative and unique enough to emerge from such a troublesome time stronger than before. “We believe that GymBeam will live up to its potential,” he said, “and continue to grow internationally.”