10 Years of HYPERFLY: Vol 2 - The Early Years
Every year running a business isn’t easy, but the first few may be the hardest. As we said in the intro, 20% of companies don’t make it out of the first two years. Everyday is a mix of excitement and uncertainty, with no room for waning motivation or failure to execute.
But as trying as those years were, we made some incredible connections, signed valuable deals, and created the first products that put Hyperfly on the jiu-jitsu map. Here are a few of the biggest moments from the first two years of Hyperfly, 2011 and 2012.
The White Belt Years (2011-2012)
Like many great companies, our first location and “office” was in the garage of our house. It was our meeting room, design studio, customer service center, and warehouse. This was where we designed and created our first products.
In fact, the very first product we ever sold was the ranked key lanyard.
The first kimono we ever made was the Premium gi, a staple in our collection for many years. We will be releasing a special 10 Year edition of the Premium later this year to celebrate our first kimono.
This was also when we signed our first sponsored athlete, Xande Ribiero.
This was an amazing relationship that led to our first “academy gi,” designed specifically for Saulo Ribiero’s University of Jiu-Jitsu.
In 2012 we signed a promising young blue belt out of Brazil named Isaque Bahiense. Isaque has been a loyal member of the Hyperfly family ever since, and has gone on to become a black belt world champion and leader of the highly-successful jiu-jitsu team, Dream Art.
This marked the beginning of the Hyperfly competition team, which now consists of multiple-time world champions, seasoned jiu-jitsu veterans, and some of the brightest up-and-comers in the sport.
We also sponsored an exclusive jiu-jitsu camp organized by prominent members of the Gracie family, the Gracie Adventure, with a limited edition Hyperfly gi for the participants.
The Blue Belt Years (2013-2014)
We started to hit our stride in 2013, the year we moved to our first official office with warehouse space. Things really started to move in the “blue belt” years, as we expanded our product line, signed more athletes, and partnered with distributors around the globe to sell our products.
In 2013 we introduced the ProComp backpack, one of our best-selling gear bags. This led to the ProComp duffel, which is still available, and one of our finest products to date, the JetPack.
We also expanded into youth kimonos and gear, and created the Hyperfly Kids Competition team.
We partnered with some of the biggest names in jiu-jitsu and fight sports during those years, including Anderson Silva, Cris Cyborg, Gracie Humaita, FIVE Grappling, and Studio 540.
We also added exclusive Hyperfly distributors in Australia and Canada. This allowed us to expand our reach across the world to new markets, setting us up to become a globally recognized name in the jiu-jitsu community.
Stay tuned for the Purple and Brown belt years when we made some of our most popular collaborations and released revolutionary new products the BJJ world had never seen.
