How a class in Cape Town started all of this
2015
The breaking point
One morning in Cape Town, Pilates studio owner Gayle was in the middle of it all — clients leaving one class, more arriving for the next, phone calls, text messages, cash changing hands. She turned to her student Benjamin and said it was all too much.
2016
Client number one
Benjamin — a Melbournian with a background designing IT systems — teamed up with web developer Ben-Piet. Together they built the first version of Bookamat, and Gayle became its first customer. Automated invoicing. Online payments. Clients who could manage their own bookings. For the first time, she could focus on teaching.
2017–18
Word of mouth
Gayle told her peers. They told theirs. Studios from different disciplines — Pilates, Barre, Dance, Personal Training — found Bookamat organically. Each one brought ideas and feature suggestions. We listened, and we built.
2019
Three continents, one platform
Benjamin moved back to Melbourne. Ben-Piet relocated to Waterford, Ireland. Bookamat went international — supporting studios in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the UK, and beyond.
2020
When the world stopped, studios didn't
Lockdown hit and studios needed online classes overnight. We adapted quickly — Zoom integration, hybrid scheduling, virtual payments — so studios like The Nest could keep serving their communities without missing a beat.
Today
200+ studios and counting
From a single studio in Cape Town to thousands of businesses across 50+ countries. 170,000+ clients book, pay, and check in through Bookamat every week. What started as one person's frustration became a platform that gives studio owners their time back.
"If I can use Bookamat, anyone can!"
