21-year-old Aussies’ $200k empire with Apollo X socks

Three 21-year-old Aussies have launched an empire off the back of a pair of socks — and it’s made them $200,000.

Here’s how three 21-year-old Aussies built a $200,000 empire. Picture: Supplied.

AFL fans — and even fans of other sports — may have noticed a new brand creeping its way into the kits of their favourite players.

From Essendon stars Ben Hobbs and Jye Caldwell to projected number one draft pick Harley Reid, all have been spotted sporting a new and unusual piece of tech.

It’s Apollo X’s performance grip sock, developed in Melbourne by three 21-year-old Aussies — and it’s made them a $200,000 fortune.

Apollo X founders Alex, Andreas and Luca with their mentor, George Athas (centre left). Picture: Supplied.

Alex Dimitriou, Andreas Avgerinos and Luca Slavica, all 21, had a vision to take the grip sock, popular among soccer players for its ability to stabilise the foot inside a boot, and transform it for other sports.

The men describe themselves as “best mates” from high school. With Alex’s people skills, Luca’s innovative spirit and Andreas’s technical knowledge, they believed they had a winning idea.

“Apollo X basically started as a friendship,” Andreas told news.com.au.

“We were always really business-minded. We had that drive and that ambition and we never really loved working a 9-to-5.

“Once we left high school, we decided it was time to take a risk and come up with something new.”

Apollo X's performance grip socks. Picture: Apollo X.

Together, the trio developed a moisture-wicking sock with strategically placed grips to minimise foot slippage. The men say their product improves agility and reduces post-game soreness.

“There were already a couple of grip socks on the market and they were all different in their own ways. We just thought we could do it better,” Luca explained.

“We basically took what we had seen from other companies and enhanced it, played around with the technology to suit other sports.

“Later, it became apparent that AFL would be our main market. A lot of these companies, they’re not based in Australia and don’t even know what Aussie rules is. So, we thought, how can we make this work for our players?”

Projected No. 1 AFL draft pick Harley Reid wearing Apollo X. Picture: Apollo X.

Since launching in March, Apollo X has generated more than $189,000 in sales, including $32,000 in its first week alone.

Much of the company’s success has been organic. Alex, Andreas and Luca, who went to a sports high school in Rowville, Melbourne, leveraged their connections with AFL players who had made it big to get the word out there.

“We were really lucky in that aspect to have those connections and people willing to give us a shot,” Alex explained of their marketing campaign.

“The more players who were spotted wearing our socks, the more their teammates and fans also wanted a pair.”

Essendon Football Club star Ben Hobbs has been spotted wearing them. Picture: Apollo X.

So has teammate Jye Caldwell. Picture: Apollo X.

The trio didn’t go to university and describe themselves as entirely self-taught.

“There was some trial and error at the beginning, learning how to design a website and price a product, things like that. But even in school, we were always thinking, how can we make money?” Alex said.

Now, they have their sights set on an expanded range of sportswear, including a head-to-toe AFL kit and potentially loungewear and gym gear.

They’re in the process of developing a coaching academy to help support young players to become stars.

“We want to support the customers who have supported us,” Luca said.

“If Apollo X can help those elite kids to become better athletes the way we were helped at school — and if they’ll wear our brand throughout that journey — that would be a dream come true.”

Andreas said the team’s short-term goal was to become the number one provider of socks for the AFL.

“Longer term,” he said, “we want to cover as many categories as we can.

“Whatever we need to develop to be the best, that’s what we’ll develop.”

Originally published as 21-year-old Aussies’ $200k empire with Apollo X socks