Antoine Paulhac

Co-Founder & CEO - Climbing District

Paris, Île-de-France, France

About

Experience

  • Co-Founder & CEO at Climbing District
    Jan 2021 - Present · 5 yrs 7 mos

    Climbing District is a lifestyle ecosystem: urban climbing gyms, training studios, yoga & Pilates, coworking, coffee shops and Social Clubs. A network built around community as much as performance. We build spaces where people move, work, breathe, connect and belong. Traction: • 11+ venues across Europe (Paris, London, Milan)
 • Flagship event: Team Boulder Arena, Europe’s leading pro-am climbing festival (multi-city qualifiers, finals in Paris, TV & platforms Live broadcast, DJ sets, watch parties)
 • Partnerships with leading brands (Arc’teryx, Scarpa) and creative communities.
 What I believe: Successful brands don’t sell performance: they create ritual, meaning and identity.
 Our mission: Scaling a premium, profitable, cultural and community-centred network across Europe. Content is the force multiplier: The story that turns users into members, and members into a movement.
 What I’m building today
 • International expansion & acquisitions
 • A scalable premium model with strong local unit economics
 • Interconnected member communities between cities
 • A seamless urban experience from gyms, climbing walls to Social Club • Gamified member journey: turning movement into measurable progress, ritual and community reward Open to conversations: • M&A • Strategy, finance and value-creation consulting, • Automation, • Long-term investors, • Property groups, • Impact meant projects.

  • Investment director at 123 Investment Managers
    Feb 2015 - Jan 2021 · 6 yrs

    Focus on tourism (hotels, camp sites...) and healthcare (care homes). c.60 acquisitions. c.10 divestments. Structured and led road show for FPCI Impact Senior (€73m raised when left / Impact investing fund with non-financial KPIs with management fees and carried interest shared with non-profit organisation). Structured financing up to €25m. Equity investment between €1m and €25m.

  • Senior consultant - Transaction Advisory Services at Ernst & Young
    Jun 2012 - Jan 2015 · 2 yrs 8 mos

    Buy-side et sell-side finance due diligence for corporate & private-equity clients.