The Kickstarter campaign launched at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a sense of freedom during uncertain times, even though the product wouldn’t be ready for months. The campaign was a massive success, breaking multiple records and ranking as the 27th highest-funded campaign out of over $200,000 on Kickstarter.
Bringing the product into production during COVID was challenging due to supply chain disruptions, and after two years, the company went into receivership. Despite this, 27,000 paddlers were shipped, with 75% of buyers being women—a groundbreaking milestone in paddle sports.
The concept of the Origami Paddler has incredible potential for expansion. With innovative designs, it could be manufactured more efficiently and adapted to create a variety of models. Its ability to fold compactly and transition from storage to water-ready in seconds revolutionized paddle sports. Selling directly to the public and creating a paddler that fits in a car or travels easily on vacation was entirely new to the market. This concept has the potential to transform paddle sports as significantly as the introduction of the sit-on-top kayak, which now accounts for half of all kayaks sold.
