Odin Ice Baths in administration amid complaints of undelivered products, millions in debts

An ice bath company promoted by celebrities including Chris Hemsworth is in the hands of administrators, with angry suppliers, staff and customers almost $6m out of pocket.

A luxury ice bath company, favoured by celebrities including Chris Hemsworth, has collapsed with angry suppliers, staff and customers almost $6m out of pocket.

Odin Ice Baths stood down its staff and called in administrators last month, leaving 439 customers waiting for outstanding orders for saunas and ice baths which had not even been built yet.

Documents lodged with corporate regulator ASIC reveal debts of $5.9m – including $270,000 to staff – and another $804,000 to secured creditors.

Assets of the company, including equipment and a few of the baths, are being auctioned online.

Jono James, Founder of Odin Ice Baths. Photo: Jenelle Stafford

Despite the auction, administrators Nick Keramos and Bill Karageozis of McCleods Accounting have told unsecured creditors they are unlikely to see a cent of $4.5 million owed to them.

Investigations by the administrators found the company had owned four vehicles – including a $200,000 Lotus Emira sports car and two BMWs – but that they had been sold in the months before the company’s collapse.

Odin was launched 13 years ago by Gold Coast man Jonathan James Clare, 37, who claimed the therapy helped with his cystic fibrosis.

The company rode a growing wave of online wellness trends, winning endorsements from celebrities and expanding sales across Australia and to the United States.

Thor actor Hemsworth was among the high-profile fans of the brand, which he promoted online as a method of recuperating after heavy workout sessions.

Chris Hemsworth praised the benefits of an Odin Ice Bath on Instagram.

Mr Clare, Odin’s sole director, placed the company into administration after a customer filed a winding up order in the Victorian Supreme Court.

The director said Odin’s failure was “devastating” for him, his team and their customers.

“I truly believed the business would succeed and put every dollar I had into it,” he said in a statement.

According to the administrators, Odin Ice Baths had generated $6.7m revenue for the current financial year up to April, but was running at a net loss of $2.2m.

Costs had soared 934 per cent year on year from FY23.

Mr Clare said he “lacked expertise in finance and operations”, and said the launch of a new model of the baths had “major production delays due to equipment failures, design changes and capacity issues”.

“This led to refunds surging, sales dropping and I had no choice but to enter administration,” he said.

“I don’t want this to appear like I didn’t make mistakes … I absolutely did and I take responsibility for those mistakes and the mistakes of the company as a whole.”

Anthony Savage doing a cold plunge in an Odin ice bath at home on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Odin had also leased four sites across Molendinar on the Gold Coast, one of which was a showroom to display its products.

Its rental expenses shot up by 1248 per cent in the 2023 financial year compared to the year before and they would continue to rise.

Mr Clare has registered a number of other companies, including Odin Ice Pty Ltd, which commenced a week before Odin Ice Baths went into administration.

He ruled out using his other companies to rebirth the business without the debts.

“(Odin Ice) remains completely unused to this day and will be wound up,” he said.

“There was never a plan to walk away or to start Odin over in a new corporation.”

Mr Clare added his other companies, Odin & Co Consulting and Odin 3.0 would also be wound up, and said a different ice bath company he started, Plunge Therapy, had been sold to a third party.

Odin Ice Baths founder and director Jonathan “Jono” Clare.

Auctioneers have been tasked with clearing out “thousands of items” in remaining stock and equipment from Odin’s Molendinar sites.

Argus Auctioneers and Valuers partner Geoff McKew said the equipment up for sale included unopened items, as well as laser welding equipment, refrigeration stock and a Mitsubishi Triton vehicle.

He also noted there was a lot of interest from buyers for the baths.

“They manufactured the baths in Australia, which is why they got so much traction and why it was such a renowned product, being an Australian design,” he said.

“The baths were handmade out of high grade stainless steel, [that] was the main product that was used and then they’re dressed by different coloured types of cedar.

“There’s a couple of different varieties that are on offer.”

Originally published as Odin Ice Baths in administration amid complaints of undelivered products, millions in debts