Kraken

Founded 2018 · Acushnet, Massachusetts, USA

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#122

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Kraken Golf started in a single-car garage in Acushnet, Massachusetts, which is either a coincidence or the best possible address for a golf brand founded a few miles from where Titleist makes golf balls. Marc Cordeira spent two decades in digital marketing before teaching himself to machine brass at night, first under the name NXT18 Golf making CNC-milled belt buckles, then as Kraken in 2018. The output is deliberately small: hand-milled ball markers, divot tools, leather headcovers and bespoke putters produced in runs of 50 to 100 pieces and then retired permanently. Drops sell out in minutes. Cordeira has said openly that he has no interest in scaling into a factory, which is a rarer position than the artisan category usually admits. The brand runs a 200-member community called The Blacklist for early access, and Cordeira has floated turning it into something closer to a private club. Kraken sits in the same lane as Swag and Dormie Workshop, competing on scarcity and personality rather than distribution. The ceiling on that model is low by design. The floor, so far, has held.