The longest relationship I’ve ever been in has been with saunas and thermal baths. Growing up, my family would spend weekends at thermal baths across Germany. They weren’t fancy spas like in the US, more like open parks where my parents could let us roam. As a chronically cold person, I loved every second.

When we moved to the US in high school, that ritual disappeared. Years later, I went to Helsinki on my first solo trip and fell in love with the warmth all over again. I even tried open-water plunges for the first time. I’m still too much of a scaredy cat for cold showers, but if the water isn’t moving, I can handle it, and it makes the sauna so much better.

That trip reignited my obsession with finding saunas wherever I could. Gym saunas never hit the same. The Equinox Hudson Square one barely breaks a sweat, and the Vital gym sauna is always closed or crowded. So I started hunting down rooftop sessions and backyard pop-ups instead. I even dragged Braun & Brains editor, Annalise, an hour out of the way on a trip to Austria just to hit a thermal bath.

If you’re in the tech scene, you’ve probably been invited to something at a sauna. In New York, Othership has basically become the industry’s clubhouse. When the Flatiron location opened, I was obsessed. It was the first real sauna in the city that actually felt right, not part of a generic spa setup. I went on a media day, brought Annalise, and somehow managed to sneak a few photos in the usually phone-free space.

Othership started as a backyard setup in Toronto and turned into a full wellness scene. In New York, founders and investors are swapping cocktails for 200 degree heat and 40 degree plunges. The global sauna market is expected to grow by around $150M by 2029, and the cold plunge market is growing by nearly 10 percent a year. Wellness is quietly turning into the new networking infrastructure.

Othership’s Flatiron studio has already hosted the Junto network and startups like Rho. It’s become a place where people unwind, reset, and sometimes make deals. Tech culture is shifting toward slower, more present ways of connecting. People are meeting offline, without alcohol, and finding focus in heat and cold.

A few months ago, I moved to Brooklyn just in time for Othership’s Williamsburg location to open. I caught up with CEO and cofounder Robbie Bent to talk about the new space. He spoke about the intersection of wellness and tech, the social side of sauna culture, and why presence is becoming the new status symbol.

Inside Tech’s Hottest Sauna Scene with Othership CEO Robbie Bent

Phones are not allowed in Othership spaces. Why do you think people are craving this kind of disconnection right now?

ROBBIE: There’s a real craving for genuine presence in a world mediated by screens.

When you walk into Othership, it’s one of the rare moments in your day where no one’s distracted by notifications, Slack messages, or scrolling. We built it that way because people are exhausted by constantly having to be online. What we’ve noticed is that when phones aren’t allowed, people’s states shift. They make eye contact, conversations go deeper, and there’s a collective sigh of relief.

Othership has grown through social media, even though phones are not allowed inside. How does the team get people curious about something they cannot capture on Instagram?

ROBBIE: That’s actually part of the magic. You can’t fully “get” the Othership experience by looking at a picture or video, so it sparks curiosity. People want to know why everyone’s talking about it, why their friends say it’s different from a spa, or a gym, or a bar. We create shareable moments outside the walls but inside, it’s word-of-mouth. When you can’t post, you talk about it.

The new Williamsburg location includes stadium seating, communal pools, and a hidden DJ booth. How much of the concept is about wellness, and how much is about creating a new kind of social space?

ROBBIE: It’s both. The foundation is breathwork, hot and cold contrast therapy, and practices that regulate your nervous system, so it’s rooted in science-backed wellness. But equally, it’s about belonging. We designed Williamsburg to help people feel part of something bigger than themselves. The DJ booth, the pools, the layout—the idea is to make wellness social, not solitary. We want people to leave not only feeling better in their bodies, and more connected to others and themselves. That, to us, is a part of wellness, not separate from it.

Saunas are now being talked about as networking spots. Othership in particular seems to have become a hub for the tech community, with events and meetups happening in your spaces. Why do you think the concept resonates so strongly with that crowd?

ROBBIE: A lot of tech founders and operators live online. They’re in high-pressure jobs, glued to screens. The sauna and ice bath are the opposite of that environment. You can’t find a hack or creative solution out of cold water; you just have to breathe through it. That’s very appealing to people who spend their days optimizing. Add to that the fact that the sauna is a natural equalizer and suddenly you have this really authentic way to meet others. For the tech community, it’s refreshing to connect without pretense and in a brand new setting.

For someone who has never been, what is the vibe. Is it closer to a gym, a spa, or a party?

ROBBIE:It’s honestly all three, but in a way that is very different from what we traditionally consider in those categories. You get physical benefits, restoration, and the energy of a great night out with friends. There’s music, lighting, and collective energy, but also recovery and grounding. People come out saying, “I’ve never felt anything like this.”

How does the experience compare to traditional NYC bathhouses like the Russian and Turkish Baths?

ROBBIE:We have huge respect for those institutions. What we’re doing owes itself to their histories and traditions, but it is quite different. Othership layers on emotional wellness classes and weaving in intentional social rituals that help people feel safe and included.

Flatiron generated a lot of buzz. What lessons from that location shaped the design of Brooklyn?

ROBBIE:Flatiron taught us how important flow is. We learned how people move through the space, where bottlenecks happen, what parts spark the most connection and conversation. In Williamsburg we scaled that up. The stadium seating, bigger pools, and multiple saunas all came from listening to the community about what they wanted more of. We also saw how powerful programming was and so Williamsburg was designed with that flexibility in mind.

What details in the new Williamsburg space stand out most?

ROBBIE:For me, it’s the scale. Walking into that massive sauna is awe-inducing. The hidden DJ booth is another one. And then the communal pools, which encourage that feeling of connection and “we’re in this together”. All of those elements together make it feel like a space people want to return to again and again.

With the Upper East Side location and its bathing wing on the horizon, what does the bigger vision for Othership look like over the next five years?

ROBBIE: We’re building a global network of spaces where people come not just to sweat and plunge, but to be together without alcohol or phones. In five years, we want Othership to feel like the new “night out”. Aan alternative to bars and clubs that’s equally fun but also good for you. The Upper East Side bathing wing is just the beginning of showing how far the concept can stretch.

What makes each location distinct so far, from Flatiron and Williamsburg in New York to the spaces in Canada?

ROBBIE: Each space is built with small differences to fit into its context. There’s a clear through-line, but the design shifts slightly based on the culture of the neighborhood.

Sauna News

• How the Sauna Became the Hottest Place to Network (Wall Street Journal)

• The Smoking Hot Return of Bathing Culture (The New York Times)

• Saunas are the hot new activity for Americans (Morning Brew)

• Want to Network in Silicon Valley? Bring a Bathing Suit (Wall Street Journal)

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By Rachel Braun · Launched a year ago

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