The Sanctuary Group: the economics of a studio network
Six boutique studio brands, fifteen branded studios, eleven Paris addresses, €8m in revenue and four years of losses. An outside reading of the filed accounts and company register.
Thirteen years in seven dates blue = operations · red = funding
The eleven addresses company register + brand websites
| Address | Brands on site | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| 82 rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth, 3e | Aqua by | Sept. 2013 |
| 33 bd Saint-Martin, 3rd · registered office | Aqua by | June 2021 |
| 21 rue des Filles-du-Calvaire, 3e | Poses (formerly Yogafactory, business acquired Dec. 2025) | 2012 |
| 60 rue Quincampoix, 4e | Le CercleDecibel | March 2022 |
| 4 rue Jules-Vallès, 11e | Aqua by (property held in an SCI) | July 2017 |
| 21 rue du Fbg-Saint-Antoine, 11e | Aqua by | Dec. 2018 |
| 151 rue du Fbg-Saint-Antoine, 11e/12e | Space CyclePoses | March 2024 |
| 28 B rue Popincourt, 11e | Le CerclePoses Reformer | Aug. 2023 |
| 6 rue de l'Échiquier, 10e | Space CyclePoses | Dec. 2023 |
| 29 rue des Petites-Écuries, 10e | DRIP | Oct. 2023 |
| 50 rue de Monceau, 8e | DRIPPoses Reformer | May 2023 / 2026 |
| 6 B rue de Clignancourt, 18e | Le Cercle | July 2019 |
| 28 rue de Châteaudun, 9e | Poses (Sanctuary Caumartin company) | 2025–26 |
| 28 rue du Fief, Boulogne-Billancourt | Aqua by | Aug. 2020 |
| 72 rue de la Fraternité, Romainville | In-house laundry (towels) | Feb. 2022 |
Concentrated in the République–Bastille–Bonne-Nouvelle triangle, with three outliers (Beaubourg, Monceau, Montmartre) and Boulogne: the same catchment as La Montgolfière, divided into 150–300 m² units. The 2026 franchises (Lyon, Strasbourg, Levallois) sit outside the SAS.
Where the €8m goes filed 2024 accounts · inferred items in red
rent, freelance coaches, marketing, energy, laundry
Per studio (÷ 15)
~€540k revenue · ~€180k staffing · ~€340k external expenses · EBITDA ≈ 0 · ~€64k depreciation · ~€40k financing costs → −€115k per studio per year.
The franchise prospectus promises €500k revenue and over 40% EBITDA for the same 250 m² format. Company-owned studios generate €540k and ~1%.
Per square metre
~3,750 m² operated → ~€2,150/m² revenue, ~€1,370/m² external expenses. A US boutique studio (SoulCycle, Barry's) is designed for $4,000–5,000/m²: Sanctuary operates at half that revenue density.
Realised pricing makes the difference: 40-session packs at €20, subscriptions at €19–28/week, welcome packs at €9.50/session, aggregators.
The Sanctuary Network, the franchisor
What is known
SASU incorporated 15 May 2024, wholly owned subsidiary, share capital €1,201,000, no employees, registered purpose: commercial strategy consulting. President of Sanctuary Caumartin. No accounts filed : no visible profit or loss.
The €1.2m is not cash raised: it is very likely thecontribution of the six brands to the franchisor so it can license them. An asset added to the balance sheet while group equity is negative.
What can be calculated
Entry fee €25–35k + 5% royalty + 2% advertising on the promised €500k revenue at year two ≈ €35k per mature unit per year. Three franchises open, three in preparation: €100–150k revenue in 2026 against €300–500k for development and support staff.
Franchisor break-even: 15–20 mature units, or €700k in royalties. Not before 2028–29 at the current pace. Its role: transfer €500–600k of capex per studio to third parties and grow the studio count used in the investor story.
Why the model struggles an outside interpretation
A format too small for Paris
250 m² at €2,150/m² does not cover Paris rent, three to five coaches per day paid per session, reception and logistics. Boutique studios assume $35–40 realised per session; here it is €13–17.
Six brands for eleven addresses
Six websites, six apps, six programmes, six marketing efforts. Shared addresses reduce rent but split attendance: one brand per time slot, none achieving the density of a single venue.
Debt against near-zero EBITDA
€9.6m debt against €8m revenue, ~€1m depreciation and €0.5–0.65m interest. Each studio costs €500–600k and generates zero EBITDA: capital buys scale without returns.
One SAS for everything
No site-level SPVs: loss-making studios cannot be isolated, losses reduce group equity (−€3.4m), and both 2022 and 2025 involve recapitalisation rather than growth.
The funding sequence
Specialist VC (2023) → bank (2024) → individual-investor club (2026) → €41 crowdfunding tickets (Sept. 2026). This study interprets the sequence as progressively less demanding funding; targets shift with each announcement: 20 studios in four years → 32 by end-2026 → 15 + 10 franchises.
Neighbours
Four co-ownership disputes and a lost case (SCI Chardon, 2024): boxing, dance and pools in Haussmann buildings bring noise, moisture and legal claims. A hidden cost and a constraint on openings.
What works, and the lesson for Movement
The product works: 4.9 Google rating, 600,000 visits, a clear brand per discipline, a multi-brand Pass, towels and shower gel included. The weaknesses are unit economics and financial structure.
A useful comparison: one large venue at 0.85 members/m² and €195/month (La Montgolfière, €3.5–4.5m at one address) outperforms eleven small venues at €13–17/session (€8m across eleven). Memberships outperform credits. Site-level SPVs isolate risk. A site's capex should generate EBITDA before the next site opens.