In 2010, Oliver Bernhard, a former Ironman champion, teamed up with David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti to establish On Running ($ONON), a brand that has now become synonymous with innovative design in the world of running.
Eleven years after its inception, On Running saw their path to go public during the IPO craze that was 2021. Like many other companies that went public during this time, ONON experienced a surge in investor and speculator interest, with shares quickly increasing from $24 to $35, a gain of 45%.
Unlike many other companies that went public during this period, ONON is not a technology company, but rather uses tech as a garnish, allowing it to run seamlessly in the background. While this approach may not land ONON on the pages of TechCrunch, it has certainly caught the attention of Hypebeast:
Through the running brand’s technologically driven approach to design, it has completely reinvented the consumer’s shopping experience. It all starts out with the innovative “Magic Wall”. The frontside of this high-tech piece features hidden gait-cycle analysis technology, and custom-built invisible foot scanners, both of which allows shoppers to examine their running styles and recommended shoe size all by simply just taking a few strides.
Although tech has frequently found itself in the limelight over the couple years, trends indicate that being featured in pop-culture publications rather than technology-focused ones has been more advantageous. For example, companies such as $RACE, $LVMUY, and $RMS have continuously bounced around near all-time highs, while tech giants like $GOOG, $AMZN, and $MSFT have traded sideways.
On Running’s cultural relevance and popularity have grown thanks to its expanding retail presence and partnerships with world-class athletes like Roger Federer, Nicola Spirig and Chelsea Sodaro. Through strategic collaborations and a focus on pop-culture, On has become the fastest growing global running brand in history. This is evident in the company’s 70% and 69% revenue growth in 2021 and 2022, respectively, as well as its stock price, which is up 95% YTD.
The focus on culture and design, as well as the use of tech as a garnish, have been key factors in ONON’s outperformance relative to IPO peers.
Wether ONON will be able to maintain its growth and cultural relevance in the future remains to be seen, but it is one to keep an eye on as the world moves away from a “tech-first” mentality to one in which tech runs seamlessly in the background.
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