(TheNewswire)
Stockhouse Editorial:
“A Truly New & Unparalleled Sports Brand”
To call it freedom like you’ve never experienced before isn’t mere hyperbole. One look at the SWMBRD and you’re probably wondering why this hasn’t been on the market for years.
To hear the team behind the SWMBRD tell it, it is described as nothing less than a revolutionary new hybrid so distinct, its patented characteristics position it as a new sport as much as it is a new board, fit for the open seas and urban life.
Imagine a small board that can move as fast or slow as the user would like, keeping the entire body empowered and aquatic, regardless of skill level.
In a sit-down interview with Stockhouse Editorial, the SWMBRD Sports Inc. (CSE: SWIM.CN, Forum) leadership admit the reason you haven’t seen this before now is simply because the surf and swim industries have been too focused on their own endeavours, the waves, wind surfers, etc., no one thought to marry swimming and board sport … until now.
Burton may be synonymous with snowboarding and Speedo may be synonymous with swimming, but neither own their sports outright … imagine entering a massive market opportunity that secured its hold on a sport before the world got a hold of its product.
About the SWMBRD:
The SWMBRD is a whole new three-dimensional object that will stick with you, follow you through any twisting and turning in the water, tightly controlled from your core to your hips.
This aquatic lightweight sports board is versatile, easy to use, easy to store, and can be used by all ages and body types in any body of water (rivers, oceans, lakes, and pools). From snorkeling, triathlon training, or aquafit, the board can serve just about any audience.
For several years, the team of brothers at the company’s helm perfected different prototypes board and tried different manufacturing methods to make the SWMBRD as affordable as possible.
Through refined manufacturing techniques most relevant to the SWMBRD, the company has successfully produced demonstration versions of fully functioning boards, which have been in rigorous real-world use in Hawaii, Canada, and Greece. Now preparing to commence large scale mass production under an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreement with Tahe Sports in Vannes, France - a preeminent board sport manufacturer in Europe and one of the largest in the West. It is the company’s intention and hopes to have boards available for sale in December of 2022.
About the sport:
A Vancouver, BC-based sporting goods company, SWMBRD Sports is out to enable millions to rethink their way of recreating in the water. Management believes that, by virtue of its patented design, SWMBRD’s aquatic sports board, is revolutionary in how it empowers the human body in the water like nothing before, giving water lovers of all ages and abilities the freedom to explore all aquatic environments with ease.
The team also believes that SWMBRD, and the sport of swimboarding, have the potential to become one of the most popular board sports in the world, with the SWMBRD aquatic brand potentially at the epicentre.
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Much like the snowboard sport, SWMBRD is a marriage of other activities, and also came from humble beginnings. From its humble beginnings to slow acceptance via the hotel scene, word of mouth took snowboarding from broad skepticism to international phenomenon. Now imagine if that had been patented.
The resort strategy:
The best way to truly learn about how your product will be use when you’re developing it, is to get it into the hands of those who will use it best. That is why Swimboard Sports brought these boards to be used as a “pilot demonstration” at various resorts in Greece. It is a location famous for both intense water activity, but also known for its calming paddleboards.
Consequently, since the SWMBRD is so much more user friendly, the guests have been gravitating to the board, as the company team tells Stockhouse. In Athens, initial user reviews found the board easy to use and operate and easier to teach all the hotels that currently have paddleboards are likely to buy SWMBRDs.
Consider that there are nearly 500 hotels and resorts in the Bahamas alone, and doing that math, the rapid potential chain reaction is clear. If one resort chain were to buy in to the SWMBRD, it would want the board in high numbers to spread across its hotels.
To the company’s point, the leadership team explained to Stockhouse Editorial that an entrepreneur instructor at Thompson University in BC showed their class the SWMBRD presentation and asked the class who wanted one. More than half the class of 20- to 30-year-olds raised their hands.
What if that same survey happened all over the world? You would have something amazing. More to the point, how likely would someone be to try one out while on vacation? Therein lies the reasoning behind the company’s resort strategy – once people start trying them, the resorts will increase their stock to ensure the best experience for their guests.
In the news:
SWMBRD Sports’ trademark SWMBRD and logo were successfully registered by the European Union Intellectual Property Office in March 2022. The European Union Intellectual Property Office covers all 27 member states of the European Union with a population of over 447 million people.
Justin Schroenn, President & CEO of SWMBRD Sports Inc. commented on the news.
“We are very pleased that this key strategic trademark has been granted. The European Union is one of SWMBRD’s most important target markets. Not only is the spectacular Mediterranean Coastline from Spain to Greece one of the world’s premier tourism destinations, with the added market of a huge resident population, but SWMBRD’s versatility brings the lakes and rivers of Central and Northern Europe into orbit as well. Given that European cars and apartments tend to be compact, management believes that SWMBRD’s small size, lightness, and ease of ownership, make it a perfect aquatic product for targeting the European consumer.”
“Furthermore, we believe that having this trademark awarded in all seven categories applied for is a very important achievement for the company and will serve as a strong foundation for marketing future potential SWMBRD products, accessories, events, media and lifestyle products,” he added.
Click Image To View Full Size
(Image via SWMBRD Sports Inc. corporate presentation. Click to enlarge)
Going public:
Why go public? The team realized that by the time they were done the patenting process, and everything involved with it, they were potentially giving the entire company away, so to speak, if they carried on with private equity.
Not only that, but they also came to the conclusion that they could never launch the sport and the brand on the scale it merited the private way, they needed to bring to the story, an army of investors. They needed to de-risk those investors to allow, as they explained it, young potential shareholders who are a part of this target audience to come in with a thousand bucks and buy some stock, or come in a private placement, and achieve almost a crowdfunding type structure in a way where those people actually would feel that they were founders, because without the boards actually being necessarily available to the public yet, they would feel they had been there at that inception point.
Click Image To View Full Size
(Image via SWMBRD Sports Inc.)
So far, this feeling seems to be on the money, as every investor is potentially a consumer of the product, and every consumer is a potential investor.
To the horizon:
As the SWMBRD goes to production later this year, trademarks and design patent are being finalized in Europe.
Progress is being made getting the SWMBRD to the masses as the large component completion of the mold (pictured above left) is coming to fruition. The actual molds themselves must be engineered with little valves and things. There are two sets of molds.
After a successful test run through the resort scene in Hawaii, then to Greece where Lifeguard Hellas, the largest lifeguard team in Greece, used the SWMBRD to monitor triathlons, the company is ready for the next step – bringing the board to the people. Having finally received the financing to enter into an OEM agreement with Tahe Sports, the company is preparing for its first production run.
Meet the team:
The SWMBRD team was founded by President Schroenn and his two brothers, Matthew and Gareth, who both serve as Vice Presidents (pictured left).
A lifelong passion for water sports has driven this family to bring a new sport, brand, and product to the world.
Born in the world-renowned surf capital of Durban, South Africa and growing up in British Columbia, where kayaking and paddleboarding are also quite popular, the three were driven to combine these activities with a board that would enable travel and exploration across long distances in the surface of the water.
Investment conclusion:
In speaking with Stockhouse and sharing their vision, SWMBRD Sports’ leadership called the next round of financing “seminal” for the company. This detonation funding represents an effective catalyst that, once achieved, will allow the company to begin production of the SWMBRD, as well as lead to development of new boards, such as models for kids and youth. Once the company achieves this, it will have broken lift-off.
They have successfully laid the foundation for the brand, developed a unique board, and patented the mold, secured trademarks, now focus is on getting it out there to the masses.
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The SWMBRD team is clearly anticipating the build-out for a fun and exciting new board sport and lifestyle brand in a multibillion-dollar market. Analysts at Ken Research have estimated that the global aquatic sports equipment market is valued at $18 billion (USD), while Research and Markets has forecast the global swimwear and beachwear market will reach upwards of $27.6 billion (USD) by 2027.
As an investor, you can decide whether you want to be part of this opportunity now or be a part of it when the company is mass producing its boards.
To find out more about this brand and the company behind it, visit swmbrd.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.
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