All New business models & startups articles

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    News briefs

    Applications are open for Ispo Brandnew

    2020-09-08T13:49:00Z

    ISPO Brandnew, the largest platform for sporting goods start-ups, is entering the next round, opening its application platform at ispo.com. The competition was launched 20 years ago and has since produced some high-profile winners including GoPro, Naish Kites, Maloja, Nixon and On Running. More than 400 products competed for the ...

  • Gymshark
    Article

    A £1 billion valuation for Gymshark

    2020-08-18T17:35:00Z

    A New York-based private equity investment firm, General Atlantic, said it is acquiring a 21 percent stake in Gymshark, a fast-growing U.K.-based fitness apparel brand born eight years ago, in a deal that values it at more than £1 billion (€1.11bn-$1.32bn). While the fitness apparel market is very buoyant right ...

  • Article

    Sportmaster employs AI to improve retail network’s effectiveness

    2020-01-25T22:11:00Z

    The biggest Russian sporting goods retailer has adopted artificial intelligence, using algorithms supplied by a Kiev-based IT company, Softline, in a bid to streamline the internal logistics network. Softline has supplied the hardware and a software system, Nvidia DGX-2, whose performance can be compared to that of dozens of servers.

  • Article

    Lululemon invests in a smart mirror start-up

    2019-11-28T00:00:00Z

    Lululemon has joined in a just completed $34 million Series B funding round for a New York-based high-tech fitness start-up, Mirror, which launched a smart full-length LCD mirror in September of last year. The display can be used as an interactive home gym, with live and on-demand fitness classes. Taking ...

  • Article

    Asics incubates five more start-ups

    2019-11-28T00:00:00Z

    Applications for the Asics Tenkan-Ten accelerator program were up by 60 percent this year, with candidates hailing from 38 countries. Asics has now selected five growth-stage start-ups to take part in its four-month program to meet their goals for both business and funding. Fun With Balls was founded in 2016 ...

  • Article

    Asics invests more in digital

    2019-11-08T00:00:00Z

    Asics Corp. continues to make new investments in start-ups and adjacent segments. Late last month, the Japanese group acquired Race Roster, a Canadian-based platform with a suite of services for the organizers of foot races that will complement its Runkeeper platform, based in Boston, and other digital operations. The purchase ...

  • News briefs

    Zalando is launching a four-week pilot project to introduce reusable...

    2019-09-17T00:00:00Z

    Zalando is launching a four-week pilot project to introduce reusable packaging for its customer deliveries. The Berlin-based online retailer will ship deliveries to 10,000 customers in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark in envelopes that can be used for shipments as well as returns in a bid to reduce packaging waste ...

  • Article

    StockX achieves a valuation of $1 billion

    2019-07-10T00:00:00Z

    The sneaker resale market is hot. StockX, the self-described “stock market of things,” has secured a new round of funding and named a new chief executive. The investment firms of DST Global, General Atlantic and GGV Capital – along with investors from the previous round, such as GV and Battery ...

  • News briefs

    Sport Heroes has raised €4 million from Genairgy, an investment...

    2018-07-03T00:00:00Z

    Sport Heroes has raised €4 million from Genairgy, an investment firm for the family behind Decathlon, to support its expansion. The four year-old startup strives to encourage more people to practice sports, by rewarding physical activity measured through digital devices with discounts on partner brands and services. The company is ...

  • Article

    More innovation at Ispo

    2018-03-09T00:00:00Z

    The problem with surfing is having to wait for a decent swell. A backyard tinkerer, Markus Schilcher, removed the wave variable from the equation by creating WaterWolf, an electric-powered surfboard that can hit speeds of 30km/h and can also be used in lakes and rivers. The product was unveiled at ...

  • News briefs

    W.L. Gore & Associates has opened an 11,000-square-foot R&D center...

    2018-02-28T00:00:00Z

    W.L. Gore & Associates has opened an 11,000-square-foot R&D center in California's Silicon Valley that will connect it with companies in the aerospace, automotive, digital health, consumer electronics, fabrics, industrial and medical fields. A first project underway consists of funding a local startup, Krenzen, for the development of a digital ...

  • Article

    Ispo plans to cooperate with Alibaba

    2018-01-27T00:00:00Z

    The Alibaba Group and Ispo announced that they are exploring a joint strategic collaboration. As part of this initiative, the 4,000-plus clients of Ispo from all over the world would be given an opportunity to expand their e-commerce operations in China through Alibaba's big B2C marketplace, Tmall. They would benefit ...

  • Article

    New partner for Sporthyra

    2018-01-15T00:00:00Z

    Sporthyra is innovating again. The Swedish sporting goods chain was founded four years ago as a retailer where customers could rent equipment for shorter or longer periods of time. Thanks to this unique concept, the company has managed to break through on the Swedish market despite fierce competition from established ...

  • News briefs

    After its absence from the OutDoor fair in Friedrichshafen last...

    2017-02-03T00:00:00Z

    After its absence from the OutDoor fair in Friedrichshafen last year, Klättermusen will stay away from Ispo Munich as well, as the Swedish outdoor company is continuing to adjust its strategy. The Klättermusen brand was updated last year and the company went through some management changes, after the appointment of ...

  • Article

    Fitbit is worth $6 billion

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    The stock market gave Fitbit a valuation of nearly $6.3 billion as the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, making the IPO one of the most successful ones in recent years. It's a lot for a company that had net income of $131.8 million on sales ...

  • News briefs

    A Swedish venture capital firm, Scope, has become the majority...

    2013-10-04T00:00:00Z

    A Swedish venture capital firm, Scope, has become the majority owner of Klättermusen, a Swedish producer of outdoor clothing, investing 30 million Swedish kronor (€34.9m-$47.2m) into the company. Jonas Meerits, a former chief executive of J.Lindeberg and a co-investor in Scope, will be the new chairman of the board. Staffan Rönn, ...

  • News briefs

    A Nike-backed waterless-dyeing company, DyeCoo Textile Systems, recently gained a...

    2013-05-02T00:00:00Z

    A Nike-backed waterless-dyeing company, DyeCoo Textile Systems, recently gained a significant new investor in Ikea GreenTech, a venture capital division of the Swedish retailer. In February 2012, Nike announced that it would invest in DyeCoo Textile Systems, a Dutch company that developed the first commercially available waterless dyeing technology. DyeCoo's ...