Boxbollen is the Sweden-born playtech startup behind Boxbollen – a head-tethered boxing ball linked to The Boxball App. Boxbollen gamifies physical activity, combating sedentary lifestyles globally in a fun, social way.
Boxbollen consists of a soft ball tied by an elastic string to a comfortable, adjustable headband, which players ‘box’ with their bare hands, linked to The Boxball App, which is in turn connected to the player’s smartphone, TV, or device.
The Boxball App (which is free) tracks the player’s interaction with the hardware. Amongst other things, the App features cash-prize competitions, community challenges, performance tracking, and many different game modes.
Your readers may be familiar with us from social media – we went viral on TikTok in 2021, and we’ve had over 30 million organic views of TikTok videos featuring Boxbollen. In the UK, famous figures from John Terry to Gemma Collins to Jake Quickenden have promoted us on Instagram.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
I and my Co-Founder, Victor, are brothers, and we come from an active family. We’ve always been close and always been best friends. We’re very different as people, and our personalities complement each other very well: I’m more outspoken and impulsive, driven by vision and end-goal. My brother is more patient and process-oriented. But what we always shared is dreaming big and working hard.
Pre-Boxbollen, I have over a decade of experience in creative & UX for international technology firms. Victor was a professional footballer, and most recently worked in sales. We’d talked for years about starting an inspiring business together someday. We both love sport, we love technology, and we both know the power of active fun in bringing people together and also encouraging healthy lifestyles.
In 2018, we started thinking seriously about how to combine the things we’re passionate about in a business we felt would work, and Boxbollen was born.
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How has the company evolved during the pandemic?
The product is an amazing way for people to stay active in a fun, social way with their families at home, and with their friends via the app. During the pandemic, I think it’s really helped a lot of people to combat being sedentary.
Our growth in the last two years has been crazy. We had over 500% revenue growth year-on-year in 2020 vs. 2019, and 2021 is looking to be very strong also with around 250%. We now have users in 56 countries worldwide. We launched in the UK in November 2021, and the demand was extraordinary.
What can we hope to see from Boxbollen in the future?
Recently, we were out in a suburb of our hometown, Stockholm, doing some filming of the product. And a group of kids ran over and shouted, “Hey! Do you work for Boxbollen? We love Boxbollen, we’ve seen it on TikTok!” That was really inspiring. It was another illustration to us of how Boxbollen resonates with people.
Our mission is to become the world’s fastest-growing sport. Our journey is only just beginning.
