On (company)

On Holding AG is an athletic shoe and performance sportswear company originating in Switzerland that designs and markets sports clothing and running shoes.

As of 2019 the company held 40% of the running shoe market in Switzerland and 10% in Germany. As of 2020, On products are sold in 6,000 retailers in 55 countries;  the United States is its biggest single market, where it accounts for 6.6% of the performance running shoe category in the United States.

History
On was first incorporated as a sporting goods company in 2010. The company was founded by former Swiss Ironman champion Olivier Bernhard with David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti. In 2012, On released the Cloudracer, a performance shoe favoured by Swiss professional triathlete Nicola Spirig. The company claims a proprietary cushioning technology called CloudTec in its shoes.

CloudTec began with Bernhard experimenting with a garden hose, exploring how that shape could offer a brand new type of cushioning. Bernhard, who was a Nike athlete at the time, presented his prototype to Nike but had it rejected. The "clouds" underneath all On shoes offer cushioning as the foot lands on the floor, before locking together to create a solid foundation for pushing off on the next step.

Cloudboom
The Cloudboom Strike LS is a performance running shoe launched for the 2024 Olympic Games. It uses an upper construction method in which a single, continuous filament of synthetic material is robotically deposited to create a lightweight and form-fitting upper. Weighing only 6 oz, the shoe is comparable in weight to the Nike ZoomX Streakfly.

This upper construction reduces the shoe's required components from 150-200 to seven. The shoe is also promoted for its reduced environmental impact through minimized waste and potential for on-demand manufacturing.

Shareholders
Swiss Tennis professional Roger Federer became a shareholder in On AG in November 2019. The company released a limited edition lifestyle shoe named “The Roger” in July 2020. Based on sales growth the company was reported to be exploring IPO options for the latter half of 2021. The company's IPO raised approximately $746 million.

Operations
On also founded and sponsors the professional running group, On Athletics Club, coached by Dathan Ritzenhein with a roster that contains multiple Olympic finalists. The company also built bobsleigh shoes that were used in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Currently, David Kilgore, an American professional runner and record holder, competes and works for On-running.

On March 31, 2022, On launched the Cloudmonster. It deviates from the company's previous designs by having a larger sole. Jacob Gallagher of The Wall Street Journal described it as "a maximalist sneaker" and claimed that this design is primarily associated with Hoka One One, and called Hoka One One "one of On's main competitors in the specialized running market".

In March 2023, On announced its sponsorship of number one women's tennis player Iga Świątek and men's tennis players Ben Shelton and João Fonseca.