Swiss outdoors apparel company Mammut Sports Group announced the acquisition of digital platform Mountain Hub on Wednesday.
Mammut was founded in 1862 in the small Swiss village of Dintikon as a manufacturer of mountaineering ropes. Mountain Hub was founded by MIT graduate students in 2015 and is currently based in Park City, Utah.
“This is about experiences,” said Joe Prebich, CEO for Mammut North America, in a statement. “The acquisition of Mountain Hub brings a whole new way to partner with consumers and professionals to deliver a digital experience like no one else can.”
The digital platform has been compared to Google’s Waze app, but for the outdoors space. Mountain Hub’s crowdsourcing technology produces real-time trip reports, routes, and condition updates in an effort to make the outdoors safer and more accessible for everyone.
“From trail data to community meetups, athlete profiles and trip logs to real-time reports that aid in your daily adventures, Mountain Hub truly brings digital into the outdoors in a seamless and organic way,” Prebich explained.
The exact terms of the deal have not been disclosed. The Mammut Mountain Hub app plans to launch with expanded features in 2019 and will be available on iOS and Android devices.
SportTechie Takeaway
Mammut’s focus is making clothing, accessories, and equipment for outdoors activities such as mountaineering, skiing, hiking, and climbing. The move to purchase the Mountain Hub ties in with how other apparel companies are expanding upon their social and digital capabilities. Consumers can now shop for Nike shoes using Facebook augmented reality, and Nike recently launched a concept store to further connect the digital and real worlds. During the 2018 NBA Playoffs, Under Armour also created an app around Warriors star Steph Curry.