In our three-part blog series, we show you how two childhood friends founded NIKIN and wanted to give something back to nature. In the first part, learn how NIKIN founders Robin and Nicholas met and where the idea for their own company came from.
Nicholas Hänny (l.) and Robin Gnehm (r.) founded NIKIN in 2016.
The two NIKIN founders, Robin Gnehm and Nicholas Hänny, have known each other literally since childhood. Nicholas is the godson of Robin's father. Conversely, Jeffrey, Robin's brother, is the godson of Nicholas' father. It sounds complicated, but in summary: Robin and Nicholas have known each other since childhood. At the time, however, no one could have imagined that they would found a successful company together, and it's the result of many fortunate coincidences.
Young and already fond of nature: The two NIKIN founders play together in the snow.
The wonderful NIKIN story began in 2016. Robin was traveling through the forests of Canada and was captivated by the tree-rich landscape. Upon his return, he met up with his old friend Nicholas. Over a beer at the McArthurs pub in Lenzburg, the two discussed more than just Robin's travel experiences.
The idea for NIKIN was born on a cozy evening at “McArthurs” in Lenzburg.
The two scouts care deeply about nature and decide to do something to promote reforestation. At this point, Nicholas had already designed his own small collection of gym bags. Friends and family had bought some of them from him. One thing led to another, and Robin and Nicholas decided to produce their own hats and plant a tree for every hat sold. No sooner said than done – just a short time later, the two were selling the first NIKIN hats, now called Treeanies.
The two initially ordered 60 Treeanies. To their great surprise, they were completely sold out after three days.
Robin and Nicholas discussed via WhatsApp how many Treeanies they should reorder.
The two stored their goods in Robin's brother Jeffrey's bedroom. From there, they soon began shipping their Treeanies not only to friends and acquaintances, but throughout Switzerland.
You can read how Robin involved his entire family and how NIKIN kept an entire post office alive in the second part of the blog series.
