Another Nine Raises $2M for Sim Franchises

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The most interesting thing about Another Nine’s $2 million fundraise is who wrote the check, not the dollar amount.

All of it came from existing investors.

That’s the opposite of a “we couldn’t find new money” signal. When existing investors double down rather than let new money in, it means they believe the company is undervalued and they don’t want to dilute their stake. It means they’ve seen the numbers up close — the unit economics, the repeat rate, the foot traffic — and they like what they see.

Another Nine is a 24/7 indoor golf simulator franchise based in Covington, founded by CEO Ethan Grob. The model is simple: members get keycard access to simulator bays any time of day or night. No staff required at 3 AM. No reservations needed. You show up, you swipe in, you hit balls.

Dozens of locations are already open across the country. The company has seven full-time staff today and plans to grow to 14-17 by end of year. That’s a lean operation for a franchise with that many sites, which tells you something about how automated the model is.

Why 24/7 Matters

The typical indoor golf facility has operating hours. They open at 9 AM, close at 10 PM. Maybe midnight on weekends. That’s fine for the after-work crowd and weekend warriors. It misses the person who wants to hit balls at 6 AM before work or the guy who gets home at midnight and still wants to swing.

That’s the gap Another Nine is filling.

It’s a model that’s been proven in other verticals — Anytime Fitness did it for gyms, and they’re a $6 billion company. The economics are compelling: lower staffing costs, higher asset utilization, membership-based recurring revenue. If you own 10 simulators and they’re available 24 hours a day instead of 13 hours a day, you’ve nearly doubled your potential throughput without doubling your real estate cost.

The question has always been whether enough people want to golf at 2 AM to make the model work. Another Nine’s growth suggests the answer is yes — or at least yes enough to justify the expansion.

The Broader Story

This fundraise lands in a week that’s been full of indoor golf business news. Five Iron Golf announced its first Connecticut location yesterday — 10 Trackman bays in Norwalk. Golf Envy opened its first New Mexico location over the weekend in Albuquerque. The Back Nine is opening locations in Texas.

The indoor golf franchise space is getting crowded, and that’s a good sign.

Competition validates the market. Nobody rushes to open a dozen sim franchises in a market that doesn’t exist. The fact that multiple chains are racing to claim territory means the underlying demand is real and growing. The National Golf Foundation’s data backs this up — simulator golf participation has more than doubled in five years.

Another Nine’s position in this race is interesting because they’re not competing on luxury. Five Iron and Golf Envy are premium experiences — full bars, events, coaching, the works. Another Nine is more like a golf sim version of a 24 Hour Fitness. No frills. No bar. No pro shop. Just a sim bay, a screen, and a keycard.

Different segments. Both growing.

What $2 Million Actually Buys

For context, opening a single commercial sim location with 4-6 bays, Trackman or similar hardware, screens, lighting, and buildout runs somewhere between $300,000 and $700,000 depending on the market and the finish level. (For comparison, a full home golf simulator setup runs $500 to $10,000 depending on the tier.) Another Nine’s model is probably on the lower end of that range given the no-frills approach.

$2 million gets you maybe 4-6 new locations if you’re building from scratch. Or it gets you the team and infrastructure to support franchisees who pay for the buildout themselves. The fact that they’re hiring 7-10 more corporate staff suggests they’re betting on the franchise-support model — more locations, managed by franchisees, supported by a growing corporate headquarters.

That’s the smart play. The companies that scale fastest in this space aren’t the ones building their own locations. They’re the ones that build the playbook, find franchisees with capital, and collect the royalties.

The Takeaway

Another Nine raising $2 million from existing investors is a vote of confidence in the 24/7 sim model. And since that raise, they’ve crossed 50 franchises nationwide — the fastest-growing indoor golf franchise in the country. It’s not a moonshot. It’s a bet that a proven business model (24/7 keycard access) can work in a growing vertical (indoor golf).

If you’re building a home sim, this matters more than you think. The more commercial sims there are — premium or budget, staffed or unstaffed — the more people try it, the more they want it at home, the more the industry grows. Every new Another Nine location is a potential customer who realizes they’d rather own than rent.

That’s the long game. And with $2 million in fresh capital, Another Nine is betting they can build enough locations to make that question worth asking.