OUR HISTORY
OUR HISTORY
For more than 20 years RaidLight has been developing products for all trail runners, offering lightweight, technical and innovative products for active enthusiasts to professional athletes.
1999 - RaidLight was founded by Benoit Laval
RaidLight was founded by Benoit Laval, a textile product designer and a world-class trail runner. The design and manufacturing tools in one hand, the practical and sporting experience in the other, the desire to make his own prototypes was obvious. RaidLight began like many other start-ups, in a garage, 10 products, a small website and 2 trestle tables at races.
Find out more about Benoit
2001 - Hiring of the first employee
Meet our current team of about twenty employees based in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse in the heart of the mountains.
Our Team
2007: Olmo Vest
Marco Olmo, a legend of UTMB®, competing over many years, up to 60 years old. With RaidLight he designed a range of ultra-light and practical packs with front bottle holders. RaidLight has always based its development on performance and product innovation.
Our innovations
2008 - Creation of the Open to All Team
RaidLight becomes the first brand to create a real social network around its customers and their common passion, the trail. The Team, open to all, has attracted several thousand members who have participated in the communication and promotion of RaidLight throughout the world.
Join the team
2008
Collaborative R&D platform
RaidLight has this intuitive DNA of collaborative design since 1999, thanks to listening to runners, direct discussion with end users on the internet, and a strong presence on the trail. In 2008, RaidLight developed its open innovation and design with users by setting up a collaborative R&D platform.
Your opinion counts!
Flagship products have been created from Open R&D, such as a pack dedicated to desert races like the Marathon des Sables, a rain cape with a very innovative pack volume control, the front pack system, the R-LIGHT 001 shoe and its CUSTOM SHOES system (resoleable, renewable and interchangeable cushioning, range of customizable accessories). All these came about through active participation in the continuous improvement of all RaidLight products over the last decade.
2010 - RaidLight in the French team
Benoit LAVAL is runner up at the French trail championships, wearing RaidLight of course! he joins the French trail running team.
2010 - Vertical
RaidLight integrates in its perimeter the Vertical brand, a brand of ski touring and mountaineering clothing, and the MP+ membrane which is now present on all our waterproof products.
Take a look at Vertical
2011 - Move to the Chartreuse
Creation of the Outdoor Lab, an eco-responsible building located at an altitude of 1000m in the heart of the Chartreuse Massif, grouping together the head office, the factory shop, the R & D workshop open to customers and the first Trail Station in Europe.
2011
First Trail Station in the Chartreuse
Trail routes marked out around a base station, showers, changing rooms, equipment to be tested free of charge for runners, a website and a geolocation smartphone application complete the system for a perfect trail running experience.
Trail running in the Chartreuse
2014 - Launch of the Made In French Alps production workshop
The desire to Reshore and create a local production facility RaidLight created a textile production facility Using modern technologies, such as taser cutting, thermobonding and sublimation printing.
Located in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, this workshop employed a dozen people who manufactured more than 30,000 items per year.
2016 - Rossignol Group
RaidLight joins the Rossignol Group
2019 - New Footwear Range
Launch of the new range of trail shoes incorporating Dual+ technology. A dual density system that gives increased shock absorption and support, giving increased comfort and better energy transfer.
Our footwear collection
2020 - Independence
RaidLight and Vertical take back independence, managed by Benoit Laval, in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, with about twenty employees.
Our team
What's next?
RaidLight's vision for the future is to continue to develop and create technical, innovative and functional products for trail runners of all levels, while focusing our production towards more sustainability and eco-responsibility. Evolve and redevelop the Made In France range. Taking our own advice from our baseline “Share the trail running experience” we will involve customers in our product development through our Open to All Team and continue to develop and be a part of the community of trail runners. All of this will happen in our “human-sized” flexible and dynamic company located in the heart of the Chartreuse mountains.
Looking forward to meeting you on a trail, do not hesitate to come and visit our headquarters and workshop in Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse and take time to run through our beautiful mountains surrounding our home.
