Fairgrounds Closes Series A Financing Led by Back Forty and Announces Canada-Wide Expansion Beginning This Fall

TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2025 /CNW/ - Fairgrounds, the free-to-join public racket club built for how people actually want to play, today announced it has closed its Series A financing round, led by Back Forty - Canada's first investment firm created to invest exclusively in Canada's consumer and retail sectors. The financing will fuel a Canada-wide expansion beginning Fall 2025. As pickleball and padel participation surges across Canada--with demand far outstripping available courts--Fairgrounds is scaling a design-led club model that marries great courts, real amenities, strong community, best-in-class programming, and curated retail--while removing barriers like initiation fees, rigid rules, and dress codes.

As part of this investment, Tim McGuire will be joining Fairgrounds' board of directors. Tim is a co-founder of Back Forty and former Head of the Americas' Retail Practice at McKinsey & Company. He is the Executive Chairman and primary investor in Jump+ Stores, North America's only Apple Premier Partner retailer, and is the former CEO of Mobile Klinik, where he grew store count from 3 to 100+ and led a successful exit to Telus. Tim currently serves as a board member of Dollar General, one of the largest retailers in the United States.

"Fairgrounds is tapping into one of the most powerful lifestyle shifts we've seen in Canadian recreation in decades," says McGuire. "What excites me is not just the growth of pickleball and padel, but Fairgrounds' ability to build clubs that people truly want to be a part of - accessible, welcoming, and designed with community in mind. We're proud to back this team as they scale across Canada, and I'm thrilled to join the board to help bring that vision to life."

Co-founded by Drummond Munro (co-founder of Superette) and Matt Rubinoff (founder of Stackt Market), Fairgrounds exists to enable more play--social connection, joy, and well-being--through two of the world's fastest-growing sports--pickleball and padel. Launched in 2022, it has grown to six operating locations across Ontario serving more than 60,000 members, with seven additional openings planned across Canada in the coming months, including its first locations in British Columbia and Alberta.

"Pickleball and padel may be trending right now, but Fairgrounds is taking an entirely different approach--reimagining the racket club experience from the ground up," says Fairgrounds co-founder Drummond Munro. "We've spent years building, testing, and iterating our model across multiple formats, proving that a fully owned and operated approach--not franchising--is the best way to deliver a consistent, world-class experience. As long-time leaders in this space, we're not hopping on a trend; we've been at it since 2022, bringing deep consumer-retail expertise to create something truly unique for Canada's players and communities."

Upcoming Markets (Fall 2025 into early 2026)

• Fairgrounds Capilano Mall (North Vancouver, BC)
• Fairgrounds Bower Place (Red Deer, AB)
• Fairgrounds Cataraqui Centre (Kingston, ON)
• Fairgrounds Whitby (Whitby, ON)
• Fairgrounds Centre on Barton (Hamilton, ON)
• Fairgrounds Ottawa (Ottawa, ON)
• Fairgrounds Kitchener (Kitchener, ON)

Across its growing network, Fairgrounds brings a consumer-retail lens to club design and operations--combining design-forward spaces, coaching and leagues, drop-ins, connection-forward events, and curated retail (gear and partner collaborations) that bring brands and neighbours together. With 30 additional locations planned between 2025 and 2027, Fairgrounds is on track to be Canada's largest court network by the end of 2025.

For more information on upcoming openings and programming, visit visitfairgrounds.com.

About Fairgrounds
Fairgrounds is a social athletics company reimagining racket sports across Canada. Through its network of approachable facilities, Fairgrounds takes a community-first approach, engaging players of all levels, ages, and abilities through free-play and drop-in opportunities, in-person events, social networking, and retail spaces. Founded in 2022 by a team of Canada's top forward-thinking entrepreneurs--including Matt Rubinoff and Drummond Munro--Fairgrounds transforms the world of racket sports into a vibrant, welcoming playground for everyone.

About Back Forty
Back Forty is the first investment firm created to invest exclusively in the consumer and retail sectors in Canada. Formerly known as Venn Consumer, Back Forty is a lead investor behind celebrated Canadian brands including Monos and Formula Fig. Back Forty partners with distinctive leaders who are obsessed with world-class products, memorable customer experiences, and strong unit economics--helping brands scale profitably, faster.

SOURCE Fairgrounds

Media Contact: Brittany Elliott Swift, All My Friends Agency, [email protected]