Manchester’s Vivify acquires physical activity tech firm imin

Manchester technology company Vivify, which helps communities use local spaces and activities, has bought physical activity technology specialist imin.

The acquisition comes as Vivify launches a wider set of digital products aimed at schools, community groups, leisure operators and councils. The deal pairs Vivify's know-how in running school facilities with imin's tools for discovering activities, distributing them digitally and analysing the data.

Set up in 2014, imin co-created OpenActive, the open data standard for physical activity backed by Sport England. Its platform uses open data on physical activity opportunities so they can be found and booked, sending bookable sessions and facilities from many providers to websites and apps such as Decathlon, LTA Play and ParalympicsGB's Every Body Moves finder.

The enlarged business will offer more products aimed at raising participation, improving use of facilities and making physical activity easier to find and access. Vivify will now be able to work with organisations across several sectors, ranging from single schools and academy trusts to leisure operators, councils and activity providers.

Russell Teale, founder and CEO of Vivify, said: “Vivify was founded on a simple belief, that the spaces and opportunities to help people become more active already exist in our communities, but too often they are difficult to find, access or use.

“We’ve spent the last six years helping schools open their facilities to their communities. Through the acquisition of imin, we’re taking that mission significantly further.

“We’re bringing together the physical infrastructure, technology and intelligence needed to connect more people with more opportunities to be active.”

He added: “This isn’t simply about adding new products. It’s about creating a more connected approach to community activity, where schools, leisure centres and activity providers can all benefit from better visibility, greater utilisation and increased participation.

“Ultimately, our ambition is to make finding and accessing physical activity as simple as possible, wherever you live.”

A connected marketplace

The deal also supports Vivify's aim of building a connected marketplace for physical activity.

Schools, leisure centres and community organisations between them offer thousands of opportunities to take part in sport and exercise, but these are often split across different booking systems, websites and providers.

By adding discovery, distribution and marketplace technology to its facility management work, Vivify plans to close more of those gaps, drawing on imin's existing relationships in the leisure and physical activity sector.

Schools will get new ways to promote their facilities, manage community access and find ways to earn extra income. Leisure operators and local authorities will get tools to improve activity discovery, link their existing booking systems to wider audiences, understand customer demand and look at expanding provision through school facilities.

The products are designed to sit alongside existing systems, so organisations can get more from what they already have instead of replacing it.

Vivify was founded in 2020 and now works with over 6,000 facilities around the UK, helping schools and other educational sites become community assets outside school hours.

New product lead

As part of the deal, imin co-founder Nick Evans has been named chief product technology officer of Vivify. He will lead product and technology strategy and oversee development of the merged product range, covering timetable, marketplace and data intelligence tools.

Evans said: “imin started more than a decade ago with a mission to help more people choose health and community through physical activity. We built that vision with leisure, national governing bodies and grassroots organisations, opening up the data about physical activity opportunities for anyone to find and book.

“Vivify built the same thing from the schools side, opening thousands of sports halls, pitches and studios to the communities around them. Put those two sets of expertise together and you have something very powerful.

“For a resident, that means one place to find everything from a leisure-centre class to a school sports hall on a Saturday morning. For our partners and local authorities, it means our work is now backed by a larger team, with far more behind us, and even more opportunities for innovation.”

Teale added: “We want Vivify to become the technology and services partner that helps any organisation get more people active.

“Whether you’re a school opening your sports hall, a leisure operator promoting activities or a local authority trying to increase participation, we want to make that easier. Our vision is clear: More people being active in their local communities.”