Transparency & trust: Crowdfunding platforms and seals of approval as success factors in the sports business

• What is crowdfunding?
• Prerequisite: Convincing, innovative product ideas
• Benefit: maintaining independence
• Always focus on the product - and its features
• Leverage the community for relationship building and product development
• Caution: Trust must not be betrayed
• Conclusion: What you should consider when launching via Kickstarter

Crowdfunding is the pre-financing of products or projects by groups of private individuals, for example via international Internet platforms such as Kickstarter.com. But crowdfunding is not a new idea. In fact, it had its heyday about ten to fifteen years ago, when numerous media outlets reported on spectacular crowdfunding campaigns that pre-funded movies, video games, VR glasses, and much more, making them possible in the first place.

The fact that we hear less about these campaigns today does not mean that they have lost their relevance. Quite the contrary. Peak Design and Graphene-X, two companies that started crowdfunding at very different times, continue to run such campaigns on Kickstarter and have made them an integral and ongoing part of their product launches. Peak Design just completed its 14th Kickstarter campaign in April, it’s most successful to date, raising 13 million US dollars to launch its new trolley category. More than 23,000 backers (that's what Kickstarter calls buyers) ordered the product. Graphene-X, based in Hong Kong, started in 2019 and runs a new campaign twice a year. The latest campaign for a modular ThermAdapt GX-Merino heated jacket just launched. Last year, Graphene-X won the ISPO Award 2024 for its Aerograph Puffer Jacket, which was launched on Kickstarter just a few weeks before.

San Francisco-based Peak Design is one of the best-known Kickstarter brands in the sporting goods industry, specializing in camera and travel bags. Founder Peter Dering launched his first campaign on Kickstarter in 2011 to pre-fund the production of the Capture Camera Clip, a clip for attaching cameras to backpack straps or belts. His motivation: Dering is a passionate photographer himself and always missed having a way to quickly store his camera and have both hands free when traveling. The campaign raised 360,000 US dollars in one fell swoop. Lorenzo Saibene, Wholesale Marketing Manager of Peak Design says

That was a groundbreaking amount of money at the time, and it was truly the catalyst that launched Peak Design.

The story of Hong Kong's Graphene-X also began when founder Jorge Barros wanted to develop products that did not yet exist: highly functional everyday clothing made from high-tech fabrics with integrated graphene, which gives the fabrics exceptional hydrophobic, antibacterial and heat-conducting properties. The success of his first campaign in 2019 was sensational:

Within 30 days, we raised about half a million US dollars through pre-sales of the jackets That was the moment where we thought: Okay, there's a market for this idea. There are about 2,000 people from 80 countries around the world who are willing to give us their money six months in advance.

When asked how the ISPO Award has impacted sales, Barros replies:

I think our product that won the ISPO Award was so successful mainly because of the award. It brought us a lot of attention in December. In fact, December was one of the strongest months in the company's history in terms of sales.

There is hardly any other tool that provides such quick feedback on whether or not a product idea will find buyers. Without having to invest money in production, setting up a web shop, a sales team or a dealer network. You don't even have to develop an entire collection right away, as long as the product is unique enough. Barros explains

'You're not taking a big risk if you don't know if the product fits the market or not. That's critical for startups.

It also enables demand-driven production and minimizes overproduction.

But financial support is not just important for startups. Peak Design is now well-established. It has loyal customers and many different distribution channels. Why does Peak still need to crowdfund? Saibene answers:

We get asked that question a lot. At its core, our partnership with Kickstarter has enabled us to maintain our independence as a company to this day. This, in short, has allowed us to make the products we want to make and run the company we want to run, and we have crowdfunding to thank for it.​​​​​​​

The Kickstarter platform averages about 28 million visitors per month, attracting people who are interested in new ideas and looking for something out of the ordinary. Saibene explains:

'IIt's all about innovation and the ability to narrate it. Backers are hungry for what makes it special and genuinely innovative.

That's why Peak Design only launches significant innovations on Kickstarter, and normally not updates of existing products. Recent examples include Motorcycle Phone Mounts - the first in the category with fast wireless charging, a new outdoor line that earned Peak the ISPO Award 2024, and the recent entry into the travel luggage space with a trolley suitcase collection.

Interestingly, Graphene-X has many customers in Cupertino, Apple's Silicon Valley headquarters. But even though its backers tend to be tech-savvy, that doesn't necessarily mean they want to be won over with classic tech-speak. In the beginning, Graphene-X explained its products in very technical terms. When they talked about water resistance or abrasion resistance, they referred to the results of standard tests. Barros: "The problem is that no one understands what the Martindale test is. So I realized that it's better to rub our pants or jackets on a sharp rock and then say, 'Hey, look, this is what the pants and jackets look like after this procedure.”

Backers are not average customers who are just looking for a new jacket. Barros clarifies:

Backers want to be informed and involved in decisions.

That's why he likes to work with pre-launches before starting Kickstarter campaigns to showcase prototypes and gather feedback from the Kickstarter community.

In 99 percent of the cases where we've launched something on Kickstarter, the product ended up being better than our original approach. Why? Because thousands of eyes looked at the product and made suggestions for improvement. No team, no matter how talented, can beat the feedback of thousands of paying users of a product.

For example, when Barros was designing a pair of men's underwear, he relied entirely on feedback from backers

But even after campaigns are over, communication with customers continues. Barros finds it very valuable to ask backers who have been using a product for a long time for feedback in order to develop and relaunch the product. As an incentive for their cooperation, Graphene-X offers a discount on orders of the new product.
In other words, as Saibene confirms:

Kickstarter creates a direct line to build authentic relationships with our community through comments, updates, and surveys.

Their most recent campaign in April generated over 1,500 comments.

These campaigns transform our entire company into active listeners. Everyone from design to marketing dives into customer feedback, absorbing every comment and survey response to make better products.

But crowdfunding also has its risks: anyone who helps a company finance the production of a product by buying it in advance is literally giving the company a vote of confidence. Trust is a very valuable commodity in this business. And anyone who Googles bad experiences with crowdfunding will quickly find examples of backers who have been disappointed. "Those people will never trust you again," Barros says. So, if you want to crowdfund your business, you have to deliver. This is a top priority for Barros and Saibene. It's not so dramatic if, for example, a delivery is delayed. The important thing is to make the effort to communicate openly and explain why. At Graphene-X, this communication with backers is very personal and takes place via email, which is why it remains the founder's job to this day. Barros: “This is the channel that I still manage 100 percent personally. I write every single email that goes out from the company to our supporters myself.”

Online platforms such as Kickstarter can help to find investors. Real-life encounters and direct exchange are also important. As the international flagship event of the global sports industry, ISPO 2025 offers start-ups the ideal opportunity to present their ideas to investors, make valuable contacts and gain media coverage. The Founders Fight Club also offers the chance to pitch innovations to a global audience and receive direct feedback. With the ISPO Brandnew Award, start-ups consolidate their credibility and market position in equal measure. Be there - from 30. NOV. - 02. DEC. in Munich.