The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2016–2024
Oceansapart: the Berlin hype activewear label that shrank from €99M to €30M in three years
Oceansapart grew to €99M on hype and PE money, then lost a third of revenue a year and was sold out of insolvency to a sock maker.
Oceansapart · Rise Up Fashion GmbH · Snocks · Altor
What happened
Oceansapart was a Berlin activewear label founded in 2016–2017 that sold leggings, sports bras, loungewear and sweats across Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, built almost entirely on influencer and social-media marketing and backed by the private-equity firm Altor.
The brand scaled fast while hype was high: revenue hit roughly €99 million in 2021. Then the drop cycle cooled and the numbers turned — €84.7 million in 2022, about €65 million in 2023, and a projection of close to €30 million for 2024, a three-year fall of around 70%.
Altor and management tried a realignment in 2023, relaunching the online shop and bringing in a new CEO, Silvana Bonello, who had spent 18 years at Nike and held roles at Vans and Superdry. The realignment did not stick: the company could not secure the financing it needed, and on 11 July 2024 Rise Up Fashion GmbH filed for insolvency at the Charlottenburg court in Berlin.
The insolvency administrator laid off roughly 100 of the label's 129 employees, leaving about 23. In November 2024 the Mannheim sock and underwear company Snocks bought the operating business and brand rights out of insolvency for a single-digit million-euro price paid from its own cash, ending Altor's ownership. Snocks said it would run Oceansapart as a separate brand under a 'House of Brands'. The case warns that when growth stops and the next round does not arrive, a turnaround hire cannot outrun the cash crunch, and the brand ends up sold cheap to a buyer in an adjacent category.
Why it happened
- Scaling on PE money: Oceansapart rode influencer and social marketing to roughly €99 million in 2021 revenue, backed by private-equity investor Altor — growth built on hype rather than durable margin.
- Revenue fell off a cliff: turnover slid from about €99 million (2021) to €84.7 million (2022) to roughly €65 million (2023), heading toward €30 million in 2024 — a three-year collapse of about 70%.
- The turnaround hire came too late: a new CEO, Silvana Bonello, ex-Nike, Vans and Superdry, was brought in during 2023 to realign the online shop, but it ran out of money before it could work.
- The financing failed: the company filed for insolvency on 11 July 2024 at the Charlottenburg court in Berlin after failing to secure financing, leaving a liquidity bottleneck it could not cover.
- The end was a fire sale: Snocks, a Mannheim sock label, bought the operating business out of insolvency for a single-digit million-euro price, self-financed, and cut staff from 129 to about 23.
The lesson
A brand that scales on hype and investor cash is borrowing growth; when the drop cycle cools and the next round does not land, a realignment cannot outrun the cash crunch.
Aftermath
Main insolvency proceedings over Rise Up Fashion GmbH opened on 1 November 2024. Snocks bought the brand rights and remaining employees for a price in the single-digit millions, paid from its own cash, ending investor Altor's ownership. Snocks said it wanted to build a 'House of Brands' and turn Oceansapart into a love brand for women in yoga, claiming within weeks that online conversion was up 25% and revenue up 40%. Staff fell from 129 at the July filing to about 23. The company had posted losses of about €3.3 million in 2021 and several million in 2023.
Sources
- Oceansapart: Rise Up Fashion GmbH rutscht in die Insolvenz
- Insolventer Activewear-Label ist gerettet: Snocks schluckt Oceansapart
- Oceansapart continues operations under new ownership
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