44. Skwosh

Revenue: $1.5 million
Growth: 38%
Founders: Adam Walsh (31); Jack Watts (30); Jack Turner (31).
Head Office: Melbourne
Employees: 3
Industry: Retail and consumer products
Website: https://www.skwosh.com.au/
Year Founded: 2015

How it started

Adam Walsh, Jack Watts and Jack Turner grew up together by the beach, and loved spending time outdoors. As they got older, they noticed a gap in the market for men’s swimwear between cheaper surf brands and high-end fashion labels.

That led to their idea for Skwosh, creating something in the middle that was “affordable, versatile, and fun” according to Walsh.

Growth

With a shoestring budget for marketing, the trio set out to get a strong online following to raise brand awareness before launching. That included guerilla marketing tactics, including a pop-up roadside catwalk, giving out Christmas products around the Melbourne CBD, and gifting $10,000 worth of product to influencers.

It worked well for them, with the company getting more than 10,000 followers on social media before launching, which helped them sell in the first year. Since then, they’ve had their products worn by John Legend, Ed Sheeran and Ben Simmons, skyrocketing interest and sales.

Where to next?

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic was rough for Skwosh, but the company has bounced back well since.

Having already moved beyond menswear to add women’s and children’s clothing, the priority for Skwosh is moving towards a complete resort wear range to adjust for seasonality.

The founders also want to source more materials and items without increasing the company’s carbon footprint. They’ve pivoted to make their swim shorts out of recycled plastic bottles, and tell SmartCompany the recycled options are selling better than the virgin polyester options.