The year was 2016 when two former Boy Scouts named Nicholas and Robin founded their brand NIKIN with a starting capital of CHF 5,000. Just six years later, NIKIN was a clothing brand known far beyond Switzerland's borders. Affectionately known as "the one with the little tree," which refers both to the logo and to the fact that NIKIN plants a tree for every product sold. We are incredibly proud that, together with our partner organization, we have been able to plant an incredible 1.9 million trees – and, despite the company's modest size, generate over CHF 10 million in annual sales. And so far, all without external investors.
New Year New NIKIN?
Not quite. But 2022 was the year in which we made a strategic shift and refocused on retail and B2B. We also had to make an internal decision: Either we stay at a similar size and focus on profitability and Switzerland, or we need more financial resources to continue growing and reach the whole of Europe. To be honest, pioneering thinking has always been our driving force, and that's also why we decided to turn to crowdfunding. Together with our co-owners, we want to make the fashion industry greener – #treebytree.
What is crowdinvesting?
"Investing," "stocks," "finances"—at first glance, that sounds pretty boring. We'll explain why it's actually a pretty cool concept. The special thing about crowd investing is that it's designed for a broad investor base (a "crowd"). If you'd like to become a co-owner of NIKIN, you can do so for as little as CHF 375. This makes it a very democratic form of investment, as it's essentially open to anyone, regardless of income. It's important to us to maintain a transparent and open relationship with our co-owners. In addition to all the numbers, identification is also an important aspect, and we're more than aware of this.
Why is this happening now?
With NIKIN, we have established ourselves as perhaps the most well-known tree planters in Switzerland. Not only because more than one in 50 Swiss people has ordered from us, but also through our extensive social media reach and regular sustainability events. In Europe, we generate significant revenue (almost CHF 3 million in 2021) and have 100,000 customers, 80,000 of whom come from Germany alone. We are absolutely convinced that we can establish our vision of making the world a greener place through sustainable fashion throughout Europe. To achieve this, we need the financial resources. When we considered the question of our further growth and our community also advised us to consider crowdfunding, the answer quickly became obvious.
Are you in?
Today, the time has finally come: we're launching our first crowdinvesting campaign. And we're also making the most important people, namely our community and customers, co-owners of NIKIN. You can find all further information at the following links:
- DE: https://www.conda.ch/aktion/nikin-die-nachhafte-schweizer-kleidermarke-funding/
- FR: https://www.conda.ch/fr/campaign/nikin-funding-fr/
- EN: https://www.conda.ch/en/campaign/nikin-funding-en/
