Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $867K – $1.4M
- Disclosed sales
- $1.4M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Vaura is a boutique fitness franchise offering athletic reformer Pilates classes and personal training. Franchisees run the studios, managing instructors, class scheduling, and membership growth.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) franchise requires a total initial investment of $867K – $1.4M, including a $100K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.4M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: low - issued within the last 12 months
Evidence: partial✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored5 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $867K – $1.4M
- 93rd pct Health & Fitn…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.4M
- 1 outlet
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 37th pct Health & Fitn…
- Units
- 2
- 10th pct Health & Fitn…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Health & Fitness · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Health & Fitness median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $867K – $1.4M including a $100K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.4M/year.
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 33/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative, pipeline stalled: 4 agreements signed but not yet open against 2 open outlets (Item 20).
- FLAGRevenue data based on only 1 outlet. Treat as directional, not definitive. Ask franchisees directly for current unit economics.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Vaura Incorporated
- Parent company
- Vaura Holdings Incorporated
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- Ultimate parent
- F45 Training Holdings Inc. dba FIT House of Brands
- FDD Item 1, page 8 of the 2026 FDD
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Thomas Dowd
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- HQ
- 3601 South Congress Avenue, Building E, Austin, TX 78704
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $311K
- vs $38K prior year
Affiliated brands
- Surf and Turf Holdings Pty Ltd
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Same owner · FDD Item 1, page 8
2 other brands on this site name F45 Training Holdings Inc. dba FIT House of Brands as parent or ultimate parent in their own FDD.
Grouped by the owner's name as each filing prints it (this page: the 2026 FDD). Spelling variants of the same group may be listed apart; a brand is never grouped with an owner its filing does not name.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Thomas Dowd
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2023
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 2
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 183% above the typical health & fitness franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown25 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Establishment Fee | $100K | $100K | |
| Document Preparation Fee | $3K | $3K | |
| Equipment Pack | $186K | $186K | |
| Promotional Merchandise | $3K | $3K | |
| Equipment Pack Shipping, Taxes and Duties | $0 | $27K | |
| Induction Seminar | $2K | $2K | |
| Head Trainer Induction | $600 | $600 | |
| Travel and Living Expenses during Training | $5K | $9K | |
| Real Property | $5K | $25K | |
| Architectural Floor Plan Design, Engineering, and Construction/Permit Documents | $28K | $45K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $339K | $650K | |
| Utility Deposits | $1K | $2K | |
| Exterior and Interior Signage | $30K | $38K | |
| Furniture, Flooring, Fixtures, Other Equipment | $23K | $27K | |
| Office Equipment and Supplies | $1K | $3K | |
| Computer System | $1K | $2K | |
| Business Licenses and Permits | $1K | $3K | |
| On-site Training Fee | $11K | $15K | |
| Professional Services | $1K | $5K | |
| Insurance | $1K | $4K | |
| Total initial investment | $868K | $1.4M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $867K – $1.4M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $60K – $100K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $100K – $100K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 195% above the health & fitness norm.
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$1.2M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
- Avg gross sales
- $1.4M
- Per unit/yr · from the Item 19 franchised-cohort breakdown (no single system-wide average disclosed)
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 1 outlet
- vs category median 11 · small
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 3 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · below
Compared against 173 Health & Fitness brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $1.4M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.3x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.0% (near the Health & Fitness median).
Disclosure
Transparency score 3/10 — moderate disclosure depth. Average and range data are available but detailed cohort breakdowns may be limited. Sample size of 1 outlet — treat as directional only.
Operator retention
Net unit growth of +100.0% over 3 years (1 opened, 0 closed).
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Health & Fitness medians
How Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) Compares
Category median of published Health & Fitness brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 2
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +100.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 4
- 2.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 0
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 2 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
2
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Small Pilates franchisor (2 units, began 2023) with negative net worth -$227,541 and net loss -$46,548 on $311,263 revenue. Five disclosed matters involve affiliate F45 Training, incl. a $1.5M settled franchisee suit and two Washington State consent orders for FDD/FIPA violations. Concerns stacked but litigation is affiliate-level.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation against Vaura Incorporated itself is required to be disclosed. Five matters involving affiliate F45 Training Incorporated are disclosed: a franchisee lawsuit (Functional HIIT Fitness) settled in 2024 with $1.5M in payments; two Washington State Consent Orders (2022, 2023) for FDD/FIPA violations; a Michigan Attorney General settlement ($95,000 plus rescission offers); and a California Consent Order ($152,500 penalty) for unlawful financial performance representations.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 33 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNegative net worth -$227,541
- 02MINORNet loss -$46,548
- 03MINOR5 affiliate (F45) matters incl. $1.5M settlement and 2 regulatory consent orders
- 04MINOROnly 2 units
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory population | 15,000 |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 5 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation against Vaura Incorporated itself is required to be disclosed. Five matters involving affiliate F45 Training Incorporated are disclosed: a franchisee lawsuit (Functional HIIT Fitness) settled in 2024 with $1.5M in payments; two Washington State Consent Orders (2022, 2023) for FDD/FIPA violations; a Michigan Attorney General settlement ($95,000 plus rescission offers); and a California Consent Order ($152,500 penalty) for unlawful financial performance representations.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 110 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 10 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Ongoing training
- Optional
- Site selection
- Franchisor accepts/approves site selected by franchisee within Designated Area
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- MindBody
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: MindBody
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) franchise?
The total investment to open a Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) franchise ranges from $867K – $1.4M, with an initial franchise fee of $100K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.4M. Important context: Based on a single outlet - not a system average. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates)?
Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) is franchised by Vaura Incorporated. Its parent company is Vaura Holdings Incorporated. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is F45 Training Holdings Inc. dba FIT House of Brands. Source: FDD Item 1, 2026 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates)'s franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) has 2 total units in the United States, including 2 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates) as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 33 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Vaura (Athletic Reformer Pilates), you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Health & Fitness franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Health & Fitness category
Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.