Former Nike Partner, Y7 Owner Fitlab Files for Bankruptcy With $100M+ in Debt

The filing caps a stark fall from grace for the fitness holding company, which saw Nike Studios go dark, Y7 shutter its locations and Ragnar move toward new ownership

Fitlab, the California fitness holding company whose brands included the Ragnar relay race series and the Y7 Studio yoga chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware this week. 

The filing came weeks after Y7 closed all of its physical studios.

In its petition to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, the company estimated liabilities of $100 million to $500 million against assets of $10 million to $50 million and listed 1,000 to 5,000 creditors.

Fitlab acquired Y7 in late 2024. Founder Sarah Larson Levey wrote in a Sept. 16 Substack post that the studios went dark in late August and September, with the last closing by Sept. 11.

“Watching it end this way has broken my heart in a way I don’t have words for,” she wrote.

Larson Levey told Athletech News in September that Y7 was not a struggling business when she sold it to Fitlab in a deal meant to fund franchising. The chain was generating $10 million in annual revenue and $1.2 million in consolidated EBITDA at the time, she said. The franchising never happened.

She added that an entity called VM Fitness took over Y7 this summer and missed payroll in early August.

“Fitlab and VM Fitness are responsible for the decisions that ran this company into the ground,” Larson Levey wrote.

Beyond Y7 and Ragnar, Fitlab’s portfolio included fitness equipment maker Assault Fitness, RPM Training, the now-defunct Mile High Run Club, Racked, a strength training studio that now appears closed and XPT, the breathing, movement and recovery platform founded by big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton and former pro volleyball player Gabby Reece. 

Fitlab also operated Nike Studios, which opened in 2023 but closed operations in March.

Ragnar, meanwhile, is changing ownership. In a letter to participants the day after the filing, CEO Philip LaHaye said a new investor group has funded seven Ragnar events since mid-August and called Fitlab’s bankruptcy petitions “an important step” toward completing its acquisition of the race series.