A former triathlete, a brand exec and a strategist built a Swiss shoe company around one sensation. Fifteen years later it trades on the NYSE.
On makes premium running shoes, apparel and accessories - and it built the whole company around one idea a customer feels ten thousand times a run: the ground beneath the foot.
The origin is almost too tidy to be true. Around 2010, Olivier Bernhard - a former professional triathlete and Ironman podium finisher - was chasing a specific sensation: a shoe that cushioned softly on landing but pushed back firmly on toe-off. The experiment, as On tells it, involved cutting up a garden hose and gluing the hollow sections onto a shoe to see how that shape absorbed and released force. That became CloudTec, a midsole of hollow rubber pods that compress on impact and lock together as the runner drives forward.
Bernhard did not build it alone. He teamed with David Allemann, a brand and marketing executive, and Caspar Coppetti, a strategy consultant. None of the three were shoe-industry lifers, which may be exactly why On looked and felt different from the incumbents. They named it On - a word short enough to sit on a shoe's heel and evocative of switching movement on.
The first Cloud shoe launched through specialty running stores in Switzerland and found an audience among serious runners who noticed the difference underfoot. From there On expanded methodically: racing shoes, trail, training, apparel, tennis, and an all-day lifestyle range. The distinctive silhouette - those visible pods along the sole - became recognizable across a gym without a logo in sight.
What holds it together is a refusal to compete on the giants' terms. On does not try to out-scale Nike or out-spend Adidas. It picks the sole, the upper, the manufacturing method - and gets obsessive about the part the runner actually experiences. That focus is the throughline from a garden hose in 2010 to a company worth roughly $19 billion by 2025.
On's customers span a wide arc: elite and recreational runners, fitness enthusiasts, trail and outdoor athletes, tennis players, and design-conscious buyers who wear the shoes as much on the street as on the track. Products sell in dozens of countries through the company's own site and stores as well as specialty and premium retail partners.
The problem On set out to solve was a narrow, physical one - cushioning that is soft on landing yet responsive on push-off - but the commercial problem was broader. Running footwear had settled into a few dominant brands and a familiar template. On offered runners a genuinely different ride and a look they could recognize, giving specialty stores a premium product that was not just another variation on the incumbents.
It also solves a quieter problem for the business itself: owning the customer. By leaning into direct-to-consumer sales, On keeps the relationship, the margin and the data instead of renting shelf space. That control is what lets it stay premium and keep reinvesting in the one thing it competes on - the product.
"The founding idea was simple: a shoe that feels like running on clouds - soft on landing, explosive on push-off."— On, on the origin of CloudTec
On's catalog is broad, but nearly everything traces back to the sole and, more recently, the upper.
The patented midsole of hollow rubber pods that compress on landing and firm up on toe-off - the sensation that named the brand.
The flagship line of running-and-lifestyle shoes that launched On and remains its signature silhouette.
Maximal cushioning with an oversized CloudTec stack, Helion foam and a rocker geometry built to roll the stride forward.
A robot sprays ~1.5km of thermoplastic filament to form a seamless, laceless one-piece upper in roughly three minutes.
A subscription-based, fully recyclable running shoe designed to be returned and remade rather than owned.
A tennis-inspired lifestyle sneaker line co-created with shareholder Roger Federer.
Figures approximate; earlier years illustrative. 2024 net sales CHF 2.32B; 2025 projection ~CHF 2.94B (~$3.3B).
On designs and markets its products while outsourcing manufacturing to partners, historically shifting production from China toward Vietnam and Indonesia. Revenue comes from two channels: a fast-growing direct-to-consumer arm - the website and flagship stores in cities like New York and London - and wholesale through specialty running and premium retail partners.
The DTC tilt is deliberate. It captures higher margins, keeps the brand experience consistent, and feeds customer data straight back into product decisions. Premium pricing is the other half of the model: rather than discounting into growth, On works to make people want to pay full price.
Differentiation comes from design and engineering, not scale. CloudTec gives a recognizable ride; LightSpray turns the factory into a story, cutting a shoe to as few as eight parts; Cyclon poses the circular-economy question out loud. Against Nike, Adidas, Hoka, New Balance, Brooks and Asics, On competes as the design-led premium specialist that owns roughly 2% of the global footwear market and is still climbing.
Bernhard, Allemann and Coppetti launch On and release the first CloudTec Cloud shoe.
On moves into competitive racing footwear built on its cushioning system.
The tennis legend becomes a strategic shareholder after two decades with Nike.
On releases its Federer co-created lifestyle sneaker line.
On goes public under ticker ONON, raising roughly $746M at a ~$7.3B valuation.
On unveils robot-sprayed uppers and grows net income more than 200% to CHF 242.3M.
On brings the technology to the Cloudmonster 3 Hyper, an eight-part running shoe.
"The CloudTec sole traces back to Olivier Bernhard experimenting with a garden hose to find a new kind of cushioning."— On company history
Former professional triathlete and Ironman podium finisher whose search for a better ride became CloudTec.
Brand and marketing executive, co-founder and Executive Co-Chairman.
Strategy consultant, co-founder and Executive Co-Chairman.
Strategic shareholder since 2019 and co-creator of The Roger; his stake reportedly returned 8-12x.
Professional distance-running group coached by Dathan Ritzenhein that tests product at the elite level.
Fashion-house collaboration on premium LightSpray Cloudmonster editions.
On is a Swiss performance sportswear company that designs premium running shoes, apparel and accessories, best known for its CloudTec cushioning.
On was founded in Zurich in 2010 by Olivier Bernhard, David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti.
Yes. On Holding AG went public on the NYSE in September 2021 under the ticker ONON.
Federer became a strategic shareholder in 2019, co-created The Roger line, and his investment reportedly returned 8-12x.
On competes on design-led innovation - its CloudTec sole, LightSpray manufacturing and premium direct-to-consumer model - rather than scale or price.