Why These Nike and Lululemon Veterans Teamed Up to Launch a Volleyball Footwear Line
Footwear industry veterans Rick Anguilla and Mark Oleson have collectively spent decades innovating in new categories in the footwear market at industry giants like Nike, Lululemon and Under Armour.
But when it came to launching their own brand, it was their own daughters’ experiences as volleyball athletes that revealed the white space opportunity in this sport. Now, the duo is launching Avoli — pronounced “Ah Volley” — a new athletic brand with footwear, apparel and equipment specifically designed for female volleyball players.
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The brand officially goes live in July with one volleyball court shoe in five colorways, with a $130 price point, a recovery slide ($50), knee pads ($35), sleeves, shorts, hoodies and graphic tees. The company has already raised $1 million of a $1.5 million seed round, which counts investors such as managing director and cofounder at Altos Ventures Ho Nam, former managing director at TSG Consumer Partners and Rosewood Capital Blythe Jack, as well as others.
Oleson, a footwear industry veteran who spent years in innovation roles at Adidas, Under Armour and most recently Lululemon, had his aha moment while attending his daughters’ volleyball tournament.
“The big realization was just looking at what they were wearing: the head-to-toe kit,” Oleson told FN in an interview. “And being a product guy, I was looking at girls playing with basketball shoes and with shoes that clearly really weren’t designed for the sport.”
In May of 2022, Oleson discussed this realization with Anguilla, a footwear industry veteran with volleyball-playing daughters of his own. A little over a year later, Avoli is gearing up to launch its own volleyball products.
The Culture of Volleyball
For Anguilla, who worked at Nike and Under Armour (where he met Oleson), understanding the culture of volleyball was a crucial first-step to create products for this niche category.
“I worked at Nike for 10 years, and they teach you that you really got to understand the consumer from that perspective,” Anguilla said. Between high school and college teams as well as club leagues, the schedule for volleyball athletes can be intense. Anguilla also noticed how volleyball athletes tend to embrace and laugh at their mistakes instead of getting upset and often look up to their older teammates as role models.
“We felt like [the culture] was pretty rich, and we’re looking around going, ‘Why isn’t anybody really celebrating this sport for what it is?” he said.
Volleyball is just behind track and field for the number one participatory sport for high school girls, according to a 2021-2022 school year survey from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). It was also the only top 10 sport to increase participation from three years ago. Notably, brands like Asics and Mizuno have launched volleyball-specific shoes in the past to cater to this growing demographic.
Avoli shoes, which are manufactured in China, have a unique cushioning system designed for jumping, pivoting and diving and a ventilation system that releases moist air, something that is helpful for women playing at tournaments that can last for hours.
These tournaments, which can bring together hundreds of athletes for a full day, is a key population of Avoli’s addressable market. In addition to selling products online, the brand also plans to work directly with volleyball clubs, tournaments and other teams to sell its products. Avoli will also announce NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals with a few college athletes in the coming weeks.
While Avoli is starting off with a narrow focus, Anguilla and Oleson understand the power of establishing expertise in a niche market and then winning broader appeal later on, something running brands like On and Hoka have managed to achieve in recent quarters. As Oleson put it, establishing competence in one area can give a brand permission to dominate in other sectors as well.
But as for right now, volleyball athletes are the top priority.
“I would love for someone to walk onto a volleyball court with a basketball shoe or other type of shoe and for someone to go, ‘Why are you wearing that? We’re playing volleyball.'” Oleson said. “That’s kind of my hidden agenda.”
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