When I moved back home to Northern Virginia, I was surprised by how hard it was to connect with others who shared the same love for authentic Finnish saunas. I missed the joy of meeting people through heat and conversation, that easy and natural bond that forms when steam fills the air. At the same time, I began learning how difficult it can be for mobile Finnish sauna operators to grow their communities. Those two insights, the challenges of connecting among mainstream sauna enthusiasts and the uphill battle for mobile sauna operators, who are small businesses themselves, sparked a big idea: what if there were a simple way for people like me to find local mobile saunas and connect with others nearby who wanted to share the experience?
As I began building what would become Supersaunners, I interviewed more than 100 mobile sauna operators across the United States. Through those conversations, I saw how fast the industry is growing and how passionate these “saunapreneurs” are, but also how tough it is to run a small wellness business. Most struggle with marketing, operations, and maintaining a consistent customer base. Yet the demand is there. I see it in our own data: people are finding the Supersaunners website and signing up from both big cities and small towns, asking for authentic Finnish sauna experiences. It makes sense and tracks closely with the much larger wellness movement happening across the country.
When you zoom out, it becomes clear that meeting this demand through traditional bathhouses or sauna studios is difficult. It’s expensive, takes more than a year to build, and limits accessibility, especially when demand could be in the multiple of millions in a few years. But mobile saunas are changing the game. They are affordable, flexible, and bring the heat to where the people are. From the lakes of Minnesota to the mountains of Washington, the number of mobile saunas in the United States is doubling each year. We think that it’s somewhere in the range of 500 amazing operators in the US right now, and much more when you include Canada and the UK. We can imagine a future where there are 10,000 mobile sauna operators serving a few million users. Still, even with that growth, most operators face the same challenge: constantly finding customers to keep their businesses running smoothly.
That is where Supersaunners come in. We connect independent mobile sauna owners with people in their communities who want to share authentic sauna sessions, especially those who might not have a large enough group or club to do it on their own. Our platform removes that friction by helping neighbors and friends organize into small local sauna clubs. Using a bit of smart data and a lot of human connection, we make it easier for these mini communities to book sessions with nearby mobile sauna operators more regularly, whether during the week, after work, or on cold Sunday mornings when you need it most. It’s a much more affordable and organic way to grow in lieu of costly Facebook or Google ads.
The reason we call the platform Supersaunners is because we believe in celebrating the people who do more than just sauna. A “saunner” is someone who embraces the ritual regularly. A Supersaunner goes a step further. They are the ones who light the stove, invite friends, and motivate others to discover the heat for themselves. They are the quiet catalysts who grow the community, one round of löyly at a time.
Here is how it works. In each city, we find three or four ambassadors, locals who are excited about sauna culture. Each ambassador invites a few friends, forming a small club of 10 to 15 people. Together, that group can rent a mobile Finnish sauna more often, sometimes twice a month, sometimes twice a week, for a much lower cost per person. The mobile sauna operators benefit from steady bookings and cash flow, and members get reliable access to authentic Finnish sauna experiences. Everyone wins: more customers for small businesses, more saunas in more places, and more people discovering the community that forms inside the steam. Even moreso, these mobile sauna operators are able to refer their customers to local, trusted sauna builders or dealers to buy a sauna online. To grow awareness, we rely on our community, the thousands of people who have already signed up and continue to spread the word through social media, Google searches, and good old-fashioned word of mouth.
Our mission is simple: to help locals organize into mini sauna clubs, connect them with mobile Finnish sauna operators, and grow the market for regular community sauna sessions across the US. Right now, we are piloting this model in cities around the country, learning from each community how to make the experience seamless, from pricing and scheduling to the social side of it. Every mobile sauna we feature is often built to authentic Finnish standards and operated by people who care deeply about quality and tradition.
In the next five years, our goal is to 10x the adoption of Finnish sauna experiences in the US. We believe that can happen by making the process of booking a community sauna with friends as easy as booking an Uber with friends. By lowering barriers and connecting people through shared experiences, Supersaunners is helping make the Finnish sauna a valued part of American community life, one neighborhood at a time.
If you are curious to experience it yourself, visit Supersaunners.com to find local sauna clubs and Finnish mobile saunas near you and join the growing movement bringing authentic heat and connection to communities across the country. You can also contact us for questions, partnership opportunities or investment at [email protected]
Steven Hu, Supersaunners
