Not Shoelaces Inc Hickies Financing Tens Of Millions Of Dollars

NBA player Smith JR liked to solve his shoelaces on the court and was fined by the union.

If NBA players use a company called Hickies,

Smith may not be able to start a substitute.

Hickies is headquartered in Broolyn, New York, USA.

The company's product is a bright, rubber material shoelace replacement device.

This product is a bit like a bracelet or rubber band, with separate belts and buckles, which can be untied or buckled.

Like a shoelace, the user wears a root belt through the shoelace hole and buckle it up.

Because the material can be stretched, these "shoelaces" can adjust their tightness with the size of the feet and the amplitude of their activities.

If you want to take off your shoes and shoes, you just need to stretch your shoes and never need to untie your shoelaces again.

"No one likes shoelaces, so we realize that there are great opportunities and can even change the whole thing.

Industry, "founder of the company, Gaston Frydlewski from Argentina.

The outlook is very optimistic.

Frydlewski hated shoelaces and ran around loosely with shoelaces.

He has always dreamed of creating a product that can eventually replace shoelaces.

At the age of 22, he began investing in his own ideas.

However, most people refuse to pay for his dream.

"There was no Facebook at that time, no one was willing to give a 22 year old boy a lot of money," he said. "Then I became an investor just to raise money for this business."

Although Frydlewski has been a long-term investor in JP Morgan, in the past ten years, he has worked hard to develop products that will bring him tens of millions of income in his spare time.

When his friend was playing football, he was at home and wanted to help his friends solve his shoelace problem.

"I'm so obsessed with this idea that I can't put it down.

This is a very obvious opportunity. I don't want to turn my back on it now. I will live in the doubt of my life.

While enjoying their own "little invention", Frydlewski is less interested in the work of investors.

Because of his work, he often runs around, but his girlfriend, Mariquel Waingarten, runs a hotel in Argentina.

Two people get together.

Finally, they made up their minds to give up their original job, moved from Argentina to the United States, and began their business days.

Although Frydlewski is confident of his product, he is still not sure whether his idea can resonate in the US market.

So, on the one hand, in order to raise money, on the one hand for testing, he put his project on the crowd raising website KickStarter, hoping to raise $25 thousand.

As a result, he got $159 thousand and sold 10 thousand products in advance.

In the process of crowd raising, Frydlewski also found a wider consumer group besides teenagers.

It is difficult for some handicapped consumers to tie shoelaces; pregnant women sometimes struggle to tie their shoelaces.

Even this product is unexpectedly popular in Japan, because it is customary to take off shoes in this country. It has to be repeated several times a day.

Japan has also become the first overseas market of Hickies.

In order to expand more overseas markets, Frydlewski also hired Ralf Puschmann, the sales and operation director of Peter Mahrer and Puma, the former European business president of Under Armour, and they were in charge of Hickies's European office.

At the age of 22, Frydlewski had the idea of starting a business.

13 years later, Frydlewski, 35, and his wife, Waingarten, jointly run the Hickies company.

In the early days, Hickies also received $6 million 200 thousand from several investment organizations such as Hydra Ventures and Collaborative fund from Adidas group.

Since its launch, Hickies has sold 2 million sets (14.99 US dollars and a pair) in 45 countries around the world, and has more than 50 patents in the global market.

In 2017, Hickies plans to enter a big South American country, Brazil.

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In order to make the product more attractive, Hickies also invited a large number of athletes and celebrities to try their products, including the Australian three omnipotent athletes Rebekah Keat, professional golfer Danny Willett, actress Chloe Moretz, designer Diane von Furstenberg and comic Baratunde Baratunde.

Recently, Hickies has received a new round of financing, amounting to 10 million US dollars, and the investor is Sforza Holding (sportswear footwear brand Topper Brazil and Rainha parent company) and Endeavor CATalyst.

At the same time, Hickies also recently launched a new version of shoelace system, HICKIES 2 and HICKIES Kids.

HICKIES 2.0 has designed a shoelace device suitable for high-intensity sports, while HICKIES Kids has adopted new materials and styles suitable for children.

Hickies hopes to sell 1 million products in 2016, so that they will earn nearly $10 million this year.

Hickies will also cooperate with Adidas children's series and Topper brand from St Paul's clothing giant Alpargatas, adding Hickies products to two brand shoes design to produce complete, laced shoes.