Student Education

Hi all — great to be part of the Searchfunder community and good to see more activity building in Australia. Location Sydney, NSW Background 18+ years in martial arts as an operator and coach, with experience building and running academies. More recently, I’ve shifted focus into acquisition and consolidation, building AcademyHoldings — a platform targeting the martial arts sector (BJJ, Taekwondo, Karate). The thesis is centred around succession: many high-quality academies are owner-dependent with no clear exit, creating an opportunity to acquire, professionalise, and scale while preserving culture. Buy Box Martial arts academies (BJJ, TKD, Karate) $250k – $1.5M revenue range Strong community presence but operationally under-optimised Owner-dependent with succession risk NSW initially (cluster strategy), with plans to expand Have you acquired yet? Currently in Phase 1 — active outreach and early-stage deal conversations with multiple owners. Building pipeline and refining structure ahead of first acquisition. Where I need the most help right now Structuring early deals (seller finance, risk management, cadence) Debt vs equity strategy as we move beyond first few acquisitions Lender relationships familiar with small multi-site roll-ups Best practices from others who have scaled location-based businesses Where I can help others Deep insight into the martial arts / combat sports industry Operational improvement in member-based businesses (retention, instructor development, culture systems) Deal sourcing within this niche — it’s highly fragmented and relationship-driven Anything else Taking a disciplined approach: prove the model with the first 1–3 sites, then scale into a repeatable acquisition and integration engine. Always open to connecting with others working on roll-ups or platform builds, particularly in adjacent sectors like fitness, childcare, or education. Looking forward to learning from the group and contributing where I can.