According to Palco23, Xiana López has invested €52,000 into Zcebra, the company she founded at the start of this year. Headquartered in Guadarrama, near Madrid, the Spanish company is Europe’s only producer of pickleball paddles, balls, nets and apparel, serving 22 of the continent’s countries. López and a graphic designer are its only employees, with manufacturing farmed out to China, and for the moment, she sees no need to expand the staff or to bring in new shareholders. “Covid-19,” she explained to the Spanish trade paper, “has enabled me to develop a business where there was a void in the both the Spanish and the European market, and great potential for growth over the coming years.” Zcebra sells through an independent website, through an Amazon vendor page and by telephone, with domestic deliveries handled by a company called GLS. Amazon, where she pays a commission of 15 percent, is expected to be serving as a bridge into the new market of the U.K., despite details to be worked out over Brexit. Pickleball is played for the most part in the U.S., where it is served by specialists like Gamma Sports and generalists like Wilson and Head, but it has been expanding to Spain and other European countries recently, as previously reported. To snare new customers and compete with these brands, Zcebra is supplying trial products to clubs, associations and stores.

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