Founder insists ‘market is there’ as Svivlo enters insolvency

The founder of Svivlo – the maker of the groundbreaking reels that boast ‘no backlash’ – says he hopes the CastGuard technology will find a new home following the Swedish brand’s insolvency, insisting that the business failed because of financing issues rather than its products or the market.

Speaking exclusively to Angling International, Patrik Zander said that the brand was in ‘scale-up mode’ when the company ran into financial difficulties and that its reels and technology remain ready for a new owner to take forward. “The market is there and the products are ready,” he said.

The assets are now being offered for sale by the trustee and include the CastGuard patents, Svivlo brand, inventory and operations. The company itself is not being sold and the assets are being offered without its debts. The patent portfolio covers the principle across four families, with patents granted in 18 jurisdictions, and has potential applications beyond fishing tackle.

Zander says he still believes the technology offers a fundamentally different approach to baitcasting, giving a new owner an opportunity to take the technology to a much wider audience. “The products exist, the technology is proven to last, with warranty claims on the mechanism below 0.1%, and demand is growing,” he said.

“What I would like to see is the technology reaching the audiences and volumes it was built for. Whether that happens under the Svivlo name or inside someone else’s range matters less to me than that it is used.”

Svivlo’s journey began around a decade ago, when the founder and his father developed the original mechanical concept behind CastGuard. It took years to convince the market, but the resulting reels went on to win best new product awards at both EFTTEX and Angling International LIVE, while also being named among the top three most innovative products at ICAST.

Editorial testers were challenged to make the reels backlash but could not, while a video of television personality and angler Steve Harvey trying one at the Svivlo booth went on to pass three million views. “That part worked,” said Zander. “However, commercialising the technology proved more difficult. The biggest challenge was changing how anglers think about baitcasters,” he explained.

“The category has been sold on control for decades: more brake settings, more adjustment, more skill required. Anglers have been taught that mastering the tuning is part of the sport and every brand competes on who offers the most settings. CastGuard took the opposite approach, with nothing for the angler to adjust.

“That is a better product, but it is also a harder thing to sell, because you are asking people to unlearn something they take pride in,” he said. “Svivlo therefore focused on putting its reels in the hands of testers rather than relying solely on marketing claims. It also introduced a 60-day try-it guarantee, with fewer than one per cent of buyers requesting their money back.”

According to Zander the issue that ultimately brought the business down was financing rather than a lack of demand for the product.“It was financing – not the product or the market,” he said.

“A complicated ownership structure made it difficult to raise capital at the point where the business needed it most.” Zander added that the decisive moment came when financing was required but did not arrive.

Despite the outcome, he remains open to helping a new owner develop the technology. “I lost a company I spent 10 years building. I put my life and soul into it, to the point where it almost broke me,” he said.

“If the assets go to an owner who wants to take the technology further, I would be glad to help, given the right set-up.”

Looking back, he says he would have been more selective about who he allowed into the ownership structure – and would have trusted his instincts more.

“I have learnt more than I wanted to,” he said.

“I founded a company, raised capital, created the IP, built a disruptive product from nothing, marketed and sold it across the world, built a brand, and watched the company go under.

“Not many people get to do all of that in less than ten years.”