Kinova has officially launched, bringing natural materials and modern engineering together to create a new generation of high-performance sports equipment. First up is the Swift Founders Series - a bamboo-and-cork pickleball paddle launched on August 27, 2026.
Developed over more than two years, the Swift offers a different approach to the carbon-fibre and synthetic constructions commonly used across today's pickleball market - without asking players to compromise on performance.
“We created Kinova because we saw an opportunity to approach sports equipment differently,” said Ben Tinkler-Davies, Kinova's founder, an engineer and former international athlete. “Performance will always come first. But we believe that through thoughtful engineering and a better understanding of materials, we can create equipment that performs at the highest level while challenging some of the assumptions around how sporting products need to be made.”
Engineering Natural Materials for Performance
For us, material choice is a fundamental part of performance.
The Swift's bamboo face is engineered to provide a responsive, connected feel on contact, supporting control across dinks, volleys and drives. Its cork core combines energy return with natural vibration damping, creating a paddle designed to balance precision, power and responsive feel.
Testing has also shown measurable performance benefits. The Swift delivers a sweet spot that is 7% more powerful, with 4% less variation across the sweet spot, compared with the carbon-fibre paddles tested by Kinova.
“For us, sustainability and performance shouldn't be a trade-off,” said Tinkler-Davies. “The goal is to create equipment players choose first because of how it performs - with the materials and methods behind it making that choice even better.”
Introducing the Swift Founders Series
The Swift Founders Series went on sale August 27, 2026, with a limited number of individually numbered paddles available as part of the first release, giving early customers the opportunity to own one of the first products in Kinova's story.
But the Swift is just the starting point. Our broader ambition is to explore how natural materials, engineering and modern manufacturing can come together to create a new generation of high-performance sporting equipment.
Performance with Purpose
Alongside our launch, we're joining the Pledge 1% movement, committing 1% of revenue to charitable causes as the business grows. It's part of our ambition to build a sports company where performance, innovation and responsible business go hand in hand from the outset.
We're starting with pickleball, but our ambitions extend beyond a single product or sport. We'll continue exploring the potential of natural materials across sporting equipment, applying the same performance-first approach behind the Swift to what comes next.
For now, that journey starts with the Swift, follow more details: https://www.instagram.com/kinovasports/