Former NFL QB DeShone Kizer’s One of None keeps fans from slipping through the cracks
Your brand reaches more people than you realize. Nashville-based One of None helps brands identify, engage and grow the people hidden behind every product, event and interaction through their connected-product software.
When former NFL quarterback DeShone Kizer was a Jordan-sponsored athlete, he sat in on a meeting about one of the brand’s biggest collaborations and noticed something missing: Nobody in the room had data on who was actually buying and wearing the shoes.
That blind spot became the foundation for One of None, a connected-product platform Kizer co-founded with his former Notre Dame dorm mate, COO Pat Darché.
From dorm mates to co-founders
Darché and Kizer were randomly assigned to the same dorm at the University of Notre Dame and quickly became best friends. Both have that natural entrepreneurial spirit, and knew they wanted to form their own business.
They made a plan. Kizer would head to the NFL, make connections and secure capital. Darché would go down the finance track and learn enterprise software sales. Years down the road when they accomplished these things, they’d reconnect and hopefully have a business idea ready to go.
Luckily for them, that idea surfaced loud and clear.
Kizer attended a Jordan brand gathering in Monaco where he saw firsthand the numbers behind these collaborations. For example, the Jordan and Travis Scott collaboration did about $3.5 million at retail, and roughly $26 million on the resale marketplace in its first year alone.
The numbers were great, but the brand and their ambassadors had no visibility into who bought them. Kizer began asking, “What if we could keep brands connected to the consumer after the buy button?” and One of None was born.
How does One of None work?
Sports and live entertainment are drawing bigger crowds and have bigger brand budgets than ever. Today, athletes and artists have become brands in their own right. Jersey patches, NIL deals and artist collaborations all put a logo in front of fans. But most of those deals still can’t answer who actually saw it, bought it or wore it.
One of None places a unique NFC chip on each product. When a consumer taps or scans, a branded page opens with no app required. The consumer shares information such as a name, email or phone number, typically in exchange for an immediate reward such as a sweepstakes entry or a VIP upgrade. Brands can then follow up by email or text and change where the tap leads over time.
The business model is straightforward. One of None sells the chips, and brands subscribe to its software. “Hardware gets us into the door; software is the business,” Kizer explained.
One of None has worked with more than 20 brands, including Eastside Golf, Breakaway Music Festival, Newark Airport and The Marathon Clothing. Longer term, the startup is looking for more sports-related work.
Ready to go from 1 to 10
Darché expects NFC chips to show up on far more everyday items over the next five years. As that happens, he sees One of None being the industry leader.
The team spent more than two years testing chips for apparel that goes through the wash, hats and metal goods. While most providers encode a fixed link that can never change, One of None uses a short link that can be redirected at any time.
But for now, the focus is distribution. The company has been “trading up” to bigger use cases and better data, and it is now fielding inbound interest.
“We’re ready to go from 1 to 10. It’s really a sales and marketing game right now,” the team said. “The products that we have in our lives stay with us for years. The relationships with brands should, too.”
One of None is raising $500,000 to close out a $2.5 million round.
Follow One of None on LinkedIn.
Video courtesy of One of None.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!