BU1 began as a personal project for Petr Hlaváček, a goalkeeper and entrepreneur from Opava in the Czech Republic. Hlaváček told the Czech news site Deník that he could not find gloves he was happy with, so he set out to develop a pair for himself. Friends in the local goalkeeping community started asking for them, and demand grew.
Hlaváček met goalkeeper Lukáš Godula when Godula visited his shop to have a phone repaired. The two teamed up, began selling on Facebook and then opened an online store. In January 2025, Deník reported that the company had been founded eight years earlier and was shipping to 53 countries.
Godula, who played in the Czech league with Mladá Boleslav and spent two years in Germany, coaches goalkeepers for SFC Opava and trains young keepers at the BU1 academy. BU1 has since grown beyond gloves into apparel and other soccer gear.