ONAK

Otto and Thomas had been paddling canoes in Ghent, Belgium every week after work for over a decade. They loved the sport but faced a persistent problem: storing a full-size canoe in the city was a nightmare, and they wanted to explore beyond their local waters. When they looked at the market in 2013, the options were terrible. Inflatable canoes performed poorly on flat water; traditional skin-over-frame canoes were expensive and required 30+ minutes to assemble—impossible for a quick after-work paddle. So they decided to build their own.

Otto, a graphic designer with sales experience, started sketching paper models in 2013. Thomas, an engineer with software and CAM background, transformed those concepts into technical reality. Dominique, who had managed sales at Belgium's largest outdoor store chain, joined to lead commercial operations. The trio spent 4 years iterating. They built prototypes by hand using free materials donated by sympathetic manufacturers, then secured government funding (subsidy) to develop higher-quality prototypes. By mid-2016, they had a product ready: a 4.65-meter canoe weighing 17kg that folded into a compact trolley in 15 minutes, small enough to fit in a car, on a train, or in an airplane.

The technical challenges were immense but solvable. The real killer was funding. "We put in all our savings, but this was far from what we needed," they recalled. There were moments they didn't see how they could continue. But they persevered, and by 2016 they were ready to launch.

They chose Kickstarter for July 2016, timing the campaign to peak summer season. Before launch, they won the Bizidee prize in May and executed a promotional road trip across Europe—both leveraging media attention for credibility. The campaign started strong: within one day, they hit 25% of their €150,000 goal, thanks to pre-campaign buzz and the help of marketing agencies Hyperstarter and FINN.

But the real explosion came through media virality. The visual product and video content caught fire. Business Insider Design featured them and the post got over a million views in a single day. Time Magazine picked it up. They were also present physically at the Outdoor show mid-campaign and won the Outdoor Award for best startup—giving people a chance to touch and feel the canoe. The campaign momentum was undeniable: they went from 30% to 70% slowly, then after 70% "it was like a rocket." Final result: €235,000 raised (157% of goal).

What worked: Being obsessively responsive during the Kickstarter campaign, answering questions 24/7, updating FAQs constantly, and leveraging physical presence alongside online buzz. The visual nature of the product made video and social media especially effective.

What didn't: They assumed sales would naturally continue at Kickstarter velocity once they started shipping. They also initially tried a direct-to-consumer-only model and underestimated how much people needed to touch a high-priced leisure product before buying. They quickly pivoted to working with retailers and distributors. They also made critical mistakes with manufacturers—trusting the wrong partners who couldn't deliver specialized work, leading to 4-month delays. They learned to choose specialized manufacturers instead.

The product itself has one significant disadvantage: the learning curve. The origami design is unintuitive; first-time setup takes patience and manual-reading. They've worked to make it more foolproof but acknowledge this remains a friction point.

By the time of this interview (February 2019), ONAK was selling primarily direct-to-consumer through their website, but also through retailers and an ambassador program. The founding team—Thomas as CEO/CTO, Otto leading design, Dominique managing sales and operations—had shipped thousands of canoes. They faced a major ongoing challenge: extreme seasonality. Summer demand was high; winter demand plummeted. This made inventory forecasting brutal: order too little and lose sales; order too much and burn cash on stock while manufacturers required months-ahead orders in bulk. They were actively working to develop less-seasonal applications for their origami material technology and seeking local manufacturers who could deliver quickly in smaller batches.