Background & Opportunity
Ninesquared’s opportunity was not simply to sell ordinary apparel to more people. It was to reorganize the relationship among a brand, volleyball clubs, and end consumers around a single sport. Traditional club-equipment distribution often depends on local dealers. Once a brand supplies the apparel, it may have little direct contact with the athletes wearing the uniforms or the fans buying related merchandise. General sports brands cover many disciplines but may not provide the volleyball community with a distinctive product language or brand identity. For a young company with limited resources, this structure created an opening while forcing a strategic choice: remain a niche consumer lifestyle label or move deeper into club equipment and the community commerce surrounding it. The company initially followed a path closer to that of a lifestyle brand. Public reporting indicates that cumulative sales in the first two years, 2017–2018, were approximately €250,000. Lifestyle apparel generated around €90,000 in annual sales, and the company broke even in 2018. By 2019, its products were available in approximately 30 multi-brand stores as well as through its own e-commerce channel. Company investor materials separately listed annual revenue of approximately €100,000 in both 2018 and 2019. Cumulative sales and annual accounting revenue use different definitions, so these figures should not be treated as interchangeable. Together, however, they show that Ninesquared already had products and distribution in place while remaining limited in scale and international reach. This stage also revealed the boundaries of its channel relationships. Multi-brand stores could bring products to consumers, while the company’s own online store provided a direct sales window. Neither channel solved the separation between club-equipment supply and fan retail. If Ninesquared sold only lifestyle apparel, clubs would mainly serve as brand-visibility environments rather than fully developed commercial nodes. If it only supplied team uniforms, the revenue relationship could end with the equipment contract. The opportunity was to treat each club simultaneously as a team-equipment customer, a brand showcase, and a channel connecting Ninesquared with athletes and fans. Ninesquared therefore made “100% focused on volleyball” its point of differentiation. Rather than competing with general sports brands on category breadth, it sought to build a clearer identity around volleyball teams, athletes, and supporters. Its sales strategy worked from the top down, prioritizing leading clubs, national teams, and athletes, then using those professional partnerships to support broader market development. Later public records confirm that the company served Modena Volley and the Slovenian national team. A 2025 league announcement also confirmed that Ninesquared renewed its partnership with Consolini Volley after the two parties had already worked together for three seasons. These relationships show that the strategy progressed beyond positioning into actual commercial partnerships. The more important opportunity lay in the transaction structure. Ninesquared did not merely supply customized uniforms to clubs. It also directly operated dedicated club e-commerce stores, sold products to athletes and fans, and shared revenue with the clubs. The sales terms for Modena Volley’s official store identify Ninesquared as the seller and invoicing entity. This demonstrates that it handled consumer transactions directly rather than operating only as a behind-the-scenes apparel supplier. Team-equipment contracts and consumer retail therefore became parts of one model: B2B cooperation established access to clubs, B2B2C e-commerce extended that access into the community, and the company’s own branded store retained a D2C capability. The supply chain was designed to support this vertical model. Ninesquared’s 2021 Investor Day materials stated that approximately 90% of its supply chain used just-in-time production, helping reduce inventory while supporting team customization and e-commerce sales. In 2019, the company sought approximately €500,000 to expand its products and geographic reach. Its equity crowdfunding campaign launched that year at a pre-money valuation of €1.95 million. By November 27, it had raised more than €200,000 against a maximum target of €480,000. Trentino Sviluppo contributed €10,000 as an anchor investor and committed an additional amount equal to 5% of the crowdfunding total. It later acquired a minority interest through the campaign. Capital, vertical positioning, club distribution, e-commerce operations, and on-demand production were thus brought together within one transformation. However, the available public evidence cannot attribute all subsequent growth exclusively to any one of these measures.
Original Problem / Model
The original model centered on lifestyle apparel, approximately 30 multi-brand stores, and Ninesquared’s own e-commerce channel. Commercial relationships among the brand, clubs, athletes, and fans remained fragmented. Cumulative sales in the first two years were approximately €250,000, while 2019 revenue was approximately €100,000. Overall scale and international reach were still limited.
Turning Point
From 2019 to 2021, Ninesquared obtained outside capital and institutional participation through equity crowdfunding. It shifted from niche apparel toward vertical volleyball team equipment, combining a top-team strategy, dedicated club e-commerce, and just-in-time production.
Core Decision
The core decision was to focus 100% on volleyball, use leading clubs and national teams to enter team-equipment contracts, and then directly operate the clubs’ official e-commerce stores.
Execution / Model / Acquisition Changes
Ninesquared developed parallel D2C and B2B2C models. It supplied customized team uniforms, operated dedicated club e-commerce stores, shared revenue with clubs, and retained its own branded online store. Customer acquisition prioritized leading teams and athletes, while approximately 90% of the supply chain used just-in-time production.
Measurable Results
Revenue increased from approximately €100,000 in 2019 to more than €400,000 in 2020. It reached €1.939 million in 2023, €2.456 million in 2024, and €3.443 million in 2025. Revenue grew by approximately 40.2% year over year in 2025, while net profit reached €821,000.
Lessons
The case shows how a vertical brand can connect specialist positioning, reference clubs, community e-commerce, and a low-inventory supply chain. The financial results demonstrate stronger performance after the transformation, but they do not prove that any single initiative independently produced all of the growth.