✳️Satisfy Expands and Chinese Trail Brands Enter the World Stage

A Trailmix of news and opinions on the business of trail running

Hey pals,

Imagine, it’s the cold dark days of December and you notice your friend is knocking out miles on Strava. You ask them what they’re training for and they respond “Just training to win a year's supply of burritos”.

That is our future my friends, and I’m so here for it. (if you’re clueless, search Chipotle Challenge on IG, you won’t be disappointed).

This week I dug out the finances behind Satisfy’s growth after they announced a new round of funding(it’s not been easy for them) and went back onto WeChat to give some context to the new wave of Chinese brands sponsoring trail running world series’.

Hope you have a great weekend,

Matt

Satisfy Goes Big: New Shoe, New Stores, and a 10x Plan

Satisfy is set to achieve €11M euros in revenue for 2024, double what it achieved in 2023 according to CEO Antoine Auvinet. Additionally, Satisfy has raised an additional €11m in a Series B to fuel their growth.

How did Satisfy get here? It’s not been smooth sailing. Before Auvient joined, Satisfy was tearing through the €2.4M it raised in its Series A in 2021. 15 months later in February 2023, Satisfy’s financial statements claim they were down to €832K, 34% of their initial investment after making a €620K loss in 2022.

Auvinet was working as a consultant when Brice Partouche reached out last February. At the time, according to Satisfy’s financial returns, Satisfy was growing but continued to burn through its investments and cash to fuel its growth.

In the year to February 2024, debt had grown from €2.6m to €4.3m through an increased use of loans and supplier debts more than doubling, whilst cash reserves dropped 66% to €305k. All this was likely to fuel their investment in the Rocker as product development costs also rose to €870K, raw materials to €661K and inventory levels to €1.59M (Satisfy would not confirm whether these changes were due to their investment in the Rocker.)

It's a classic entrepreneurial gamble - betting today's stability on tomorrow's innovation. If revenue was around half of €11m, we can assume revenue was close to €6m for 2023, demonstrating the risk Brice was running. Now with €11M in fresh investment and a doubling of revenue, it appears that this bet could pay off.

Why it matters:

Despite current economic challenges, Satisfy attracted both existing backers and a new lifestyle-focused investment fund, a testament to its appeal and growth potential.

Satisfy pioneered the fusion of running and luxury fashion. Now, with a stronger team and fresh capital, it’s scaling up while staying true to its niche.

Satisfy’s 2024 by the numbers:

• Revenue doubled in 2024, hitting €11–12M.

• The team has grown from 20 to 45, adding senior hires from Palace Skateboards and top footwear brands.

• The U.S. is their largest market, contributing 40% of e-commerce revenue. South Korea is the second-largest market, with Europe, the UK, and Scandinavia also key regions.

• The goal: 10x revenue in five years.

What’s next:

• First trail running shoe, The Rocker drops in July. Jean Marc-Dijan revealed that the cost at launch will be $280 with the ambition for the shoe to be “a long distance trainer capable of transitioning from “concrete to mud.”” (read the linked article for more info on the design process behind the shoe).

• Expanding into women’s apparel and a climbing-inspired collection.

• Exploring launching 10–12 standalone stores in key cultural hubs over the next five years.

Auvinet on Satisfy’s key challenge: “The rise of sportswear as the new streetwear, now capturing the attention of luxury players, presents a unique opportunity for Satisfy. Our challenge is to seamlessly blend performance innovation with premium fashion while remaining rooted in culture and maintaining a bold, authentic perspective on running and performance.”

“Coming from the fashion industry, I’ve seen many brands lose their essence by trying to appeal to everyone. However, some manage to retain the aura that resonated with people from the start. For Satisfy, this means unwavering dedication to product quality, innovation, and craftsmanship. Our range will always offer technical excellence and added value for athletes and pro runners. We’re deeply involved with our pro athlete teams and broader community, integrating their insights directly into product design and testing. Between €10 million and €100 million in revenue, the key challenge isn’t staying true to our values—it’s ensuring flawless execution.”

Matts Opinion: Satisfy has swiftly become a leader of the niche running pack. Whilst they haven’t been around as long as Tracksmith, Satisfy have built up a following that positions them as a bellwether for the new wave of running brands. The revenue is nice, but the investment is the tell-tale sign that institutions are starting to see the potential scale of the opportunity in running.

The path Satisfy has taken to get to this size has proven that there are many ways to build a running brand, but it comes with immense risk. Unlike more mainstream brands, Satisfy have followed a luxury / streetwear business model that thrives off scarcity rather than exposure. Satisfy has been playing the game cautiously, limiting their distribution and focusing their efforts on men’s apparel and accessories. Whilst they’re now expanding their range, this model is unlikely to change – the only difference is their expansion into in-person retail that allows them to tightly control the brand experience. As anyone who has seen their pop-ups at UTMB, TRE or Paris Fashion Week knows, that is going to be one radically different experience to your usual running retailer.

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Trail Running’s Next Big Investors: Chinese Brands

What’s happening: Chinese running brands are making major sponsorship moves in trail running’s top global events, including the UTMB World Series, Skyrunner World Series and TorX. Brands like Aonijie (China), Nedao (China) and Kailas (China) are investing heavily, signalling a shift in the sport’s commercial landscape.

Why it matters: For years, the trail running industry has been dominated by Western brands like Salomon, The North Face, and Hoka. Now, Asian companies see an opening to expand beyond their home markets, gain credibility, and compete globally.

Driving the trend:

• Booming Asian trail market – Trail running participation in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia has surged, with new races and local elites gaining prominence in international races. Sponsorships give brands local credibility and trust while boosting international recognition.

• China’s "Guochao" push – The Chinese government is promoting homegrown brands over Western competitors and supporting the outdoor industry as part of a larger fitness and tourism strategy.

• Western brands retreating – Nike and Adidas have struggled in China due to both economic shifts and nationalistic consumer sentiment. Asian brands are stepping in to fill the gap domestically and expand internationally.

• Outdoor tourism boom – China’s Belt & Road Initiative is driving investment in mountain regions and adventure tourism, directly benefiting sports like trail running. More race destinations mean more gear sales.

The benefits work both ways: European race directors have also visited Chinese races to learn how to manage large scale races, according to Nina Sun Na, brand director of Kailas. As part of the TorX partnership, Kailas also helped the events organisation create an event in China to expand their reach into the Asian market.

The bottom line: Asian brands see trail running as a high-growth, globally relevant sport that lets them showcase innovation, gain credibility, and compete on the world stage—without the sky-high costs of road running or mainstream athletics. Expect more sponsorship deals, more elite Asian athletes, and a bigger global presence in the years ahead.

Matt: I’ve already written about Chinese trail running before (which I highly recommend reading for the context of this story)

35// The Remarkable Rise of Trail Running in China

When researching this latest piece, a few notable sentences stood out:

On Xiaohongshu [a Chinese social media app], the topic of "cross-country running" alone has been viewed nearly 300 million times

[On trail running’s growth] Li Yong, a visiting scholar at Monash University in Australia, said in an interview with Xinmin Weekly: "Cross-country running is an outlet to fight against urban anxiety and a manifestation of the pursuit of poetry in life. Young people are eager to find inner peace through natural beauty. This return to nature is like pressing the 'restart button' for their lives."

[Online conversation in China] In addition to the medals and prizes after the race, more people are discussing the richness of the dishes at the supply stations during the cross-country race. From mutton soup, sauerkraut noodles, to stewed goose and roasted whole lamb, 10 meals for 100km, five meals for 50km, and two meals for 20km, cross-country running quickly became popular with a new title - "large-scale outdoor buffet event".

Xinmin weekly

If we had a group chat…

• Ultra running insta was all over the Tempe Chipotle Challenge this week. It’s hard to explain to non-runners why following Strava and reels updates about two dudes running up and down a nondescript high street chasing after a year's worth of burritos was so entrancing, but it was. There’s been rumbles about whether this could become a new race format, which it certainly could, but it was the combination of all the coverage it got that made it fun to follow. And then you have to think about the incentives - what would compel you to run endlessly for 30 days over a 1 mile stretch of tarmac?

• Hugo Joyeux at Mile & Stone continually uncovers new stories across trail running and fills in details on stories where there has been minimal coverage. Mile & Stone’s newsletter last week had details on how the race director of the Mont Blanc Marathon found out that Salomon was dropping them from the World Series:

  • Frédéric Comte, who learned the news "the day after the 2024 edition, by e-mail", confides: "With the World Trail Championships in Canfranc at the end of September, the period for the Golden to travel to the United States had to be changed, so Greg Vollet chose the Broken Arrow and a new race in Mexico instead of the Mont Blanc Marathon at the end of June. I regret that."”

• Nnormal indicated that they’re looking to grow their business in the US

• Seeing practically all running brands big and small at Paris Men’s Fashion Week was not on my bingo sheet for this year, but what do i know about fashion? Chris at Runner’s Highest has the most detailed coverage of the week. I also asked him why he thinks so many running brands went this year:

  “in my opinion, running retail in Europe is quite "conservative" when it comes to new brands. Combined with the running hype and the blend of running, lifestyle and fashion over the past years, that makes an interesting situation: smaller new brands such as Tiempos, Hermanos Koumori, Unna, Portal, even Merrell and Satisfy are mostly sold in streetwear stores or more in those stores who started to bridge the gap. HIP, This Thing Of Ours, END, Asphaltgold, HHV, just to name a few.

  I think the bigger brands all have a lifestyle section but realize that it isn't as seperated as before anymore. Saucony just had "all" sneakers AND running shoes in the showroom. Similar for Salomon: their lifestyle/sneaker section is still pretty close to their sports section so they just mix it up. Hoka's lifestyle section is partly still very sporty. Fun fact here is that their lifestyle branch doesn't perform at all in the US as it's purely seen as a comfy running brand”