Solinca

What Solinca does

Solinca is a Portuguese fitness center chain operating 35 owned gym locations across Portugal's primary metropolitan markets — 19 in Greater Lisbon, 12 in Greater Porto, plus single locations in Coimbra, Braga, Guimarães, and Viana do Castelo. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Maia under the SC Fitness, S.A. parent group, the company serves 115,000+ members through a multi-brand portfolio: Solinca Classic (full-service facilities with pools, spa circuits, and extensive equipment), Solinca Light (7 compact, lower-cost locations), and Urban Fit (acquired brand entities retained under the SC Fitness umbrella). The company employs between 501 and 1,000 staff.

Solinca's core offering combines gym floor access with modular service add-ons including personal training (Treino Personalizado), nutrition consultations with InBody and Accuniq body composition assessment equipment, swimming lessons for all ages (Natação, from 4-month-old babies onward), Kids fitness activities, and a diverse group fitness class portfolio spanning Les Mills licensed programs (RPM, Body Pump), toning, cardio, dance, and mind-body formats (yoga, Pilates). The technical platform is conventional for the fitness sector — physical equipment, in-person instruction, and standard web enrollment — with no proprietary software, app, or AI/ML capabilities disclosed. Member data is captured through the enrollment portal (inscricao.solinca.pt) and in-gym body composition scans.

The revenue model is subscription-based, with membership tiers (Total, Peak, Off Peak) priced from €2.99/week to €4.99/week with a 52-week minimum contract and mandatory first-two-periods prepayment, supplemented by ancillary service fees for personal training, nutrition, swimming, and Kids programming. Distribution is direct via owned retail locations, supported by online enrollment, in-person commercial consultants at each gym, digital marketing (Instagram, blog, email newsletter), and a corporate membership channel. The company operates exclusively in Portugal with no international footprint.

Name

Solinca

Legal name

Solinca Classic, S.A.

Website

https://solinca.pt

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Solinca is Portugal's leading fitness center chain, operating 35 owned gym locations under Solinca Classic, Solinca Light, and Urban Fit brands serving 115,000+ members nationwide with subscriptions from €2.99/week, personal training, nutrition, swimming, and group fitness classes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fitness Center Services

NAICS

Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (713940), Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers (71394), Sports and Recreation Instruction (61162)

SIC

Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

General Personal Training (In-Person & Virtual) (HSADAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Small-Group Personal Training (Semi-Private) (HSADAAAN)

Keywords

• Fitness center memberships
• Personal training services
• Nutrition consultations
• Swimming lessons
• Group fitness classes

Headquarters

HQ city

Porto

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Gym Membership Subscriptions: Recurring membership fees charged on a bi-weekly or monthly basis. Memberships are available in different modalities (Total, Peak, Off Peak) with minimum 52-week contract requirements. Additional revenue from specialized services such as personal training, nutrition consultations, swimming lessons, and Kids activities.
2. Ancillary Services: Revenue from additional services including personal training sessions, nutrition consultations, swimming lessons for all ages, Kids activities and birthday parties, and specialized assessments using InBody and Accuniq equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Solinca operates a Portuguese fitness-center network offering gym memberships through Classic and Light club formats, with access to fitness equipment, group classes, pools and spa facilities where available. It also sells related services including personal training, nutrition consultations, swimming lessons, Kids activities and birthday parties.

Product overview

Solinca operates a national gym chain across Portugal with two distinct brands: Solinca Classic (full-service, 27+ locations with pools and spa circuits) and Solinca Light (budget-friendly, 7 locations with essential gym and group class access). Both brands provide access to fitness equipment and group classes. Core add-on services include Treino Personalizado (personal training), Nutrição (nutrition consultations with InBody/Accuniq body composition analysis), Natação (swimming lessons for all ages), and Kids activities. Group classes span Les Mills programs (RPM, Body Pump), toning, cardio, dance, yoga/Pilates, and express formats. The offering is a unified multi-brand fitness platform with modular add-on services rather than a single product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Solinca Classic
• Solinca Light
• Personal Training [Treino Personalizado]
• Nutrition [Nutrição]
• Swimming [Natação]
• Kids
• Group Fitness Classes [Aulas de Grupo]

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 115,000 active members across Portugal
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Les MillscoreTechnology or IntegrationSolinca offers Les Mills group fitness programs including RPM, Body Pump, and other Les Mills branded classes. These are premium international fitness programs that provide standardized group exercise formats taught by certified instructors. The partnership provides access to proprietary class formats, music licensing, and marketing support.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Fitness Hut: Portuguese low-cost gym chain operating ~50 clubs across Portugal; acquired by Basic-Fit in 2023. Directly competes with Solinca Classic and especially Solinca Light on price and multi-site access within the same domestic market.
• Holmes Place: Premium fitness and wellness club operator in Portugal and Spain with full-service clubs including pools, SPA, and group classes. Closely comparable to Solinca Classic in positioning, facility offering, and target customer segment.
• VivaGym: Iberian low-cost fitness chain with significant Portuguese presence. Competes directly with Solinca Light and the value end of Solinca Classic on price and accessibility.

Broad incumbents

• Basic-Fit: Europe's largest low-cost fitness operator with 1,500+ clubs across multiple countries; entered Portugal via Fitness Hut acquisition. Competes in the same domestic market with broader geographic scale and lower price points.
• McFit (RSG Group): European low-cost fitness pioneer under RSG Group (which also owns Holmes Place). Operates at much larger scale across Europe with overlapping value-segment positioning versus Solinca Light.
• Fitness First: International premium multi-club fitness operator with premium positioning similar to Solinca Classic. Not a direct competitor in Portugal today but a comparable premium-tier business model.

Regional players

• PumpFit: Smaller Portuguese gym operator focusing on accessible group fitness and personal training. Comparable niche positioning and Portuguese-only footprint but at smaller scale than Solinca.
• InShape: Portuguese independent gym chain with multi-site presence in select metros. Comparable mid-tier positioning within Portugal but without the SPA/aquatics amenities that differentiate Solinca Classic.

Others

• Wellhub (formerly Gympass): Corporate wellness aggregator giving employees multi-gym access; partners with Solinca while also distributing competing gyms to the same corporate accounts. Indirectly competitive through channel overlap.
• Sonae Capital: Parent conglomerate that owns SC Fitness (and therefore Solinca). Not a peer operator, but the corporate parent provides shared services, capital, and strategic context relevant to any potential transaction involving Solinca.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Solinca
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/solinca
• Facebookfacebook.com/solinca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/solinca
• Instagraminstagram.com/solinca

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Solinca