Vietnamese Sportswear Startup Riki Sport Seeks Investment on Shark Tank Vietnam
Riki Sport is a sportswear manufacturing startup, specializing in sports team uniforms, with a focus on football kits.
On Shopee, the Riki Sport store, opened about a year ago, has gained over 900 followers. Their products are affordably priced, with football, volleyball, and children’s sportswear sets ranging from 145,000 to 165,000 VND.
Appearing on Shark Tank Vietnam, CEO of Riki Sport, Vu Nhu Yen, shared that before 2019, the concept of Vietnamese brands was non-existent in the football kit market.
“However, today, over 95% of the products seen on football pitches bear Vietnamese brands, with Riki being a prime example. We have played a part in changing consumer habits when it comes to football kits,” said Yen.
Riki Sport’s vision is to become Vietnam’s leading sports team uniform provider, targeting 2 trillion VND in revenue by 2025 and 3 trillion VND by 2026, with a profit margin of over 17%.
Yen expressed confidence in these goals, citing the growing health consciousness among Vietnamese, coupled with Riki Sport’s nearly decade-long experience in producing sportswear for domestic and international markets.
Riki Sport’s products are manufactured in-house, with sewing being outsourced to small businesses to reduce costs. The fabric is sourced from local fabric companies. Their primary distribution channel is B2B, with 6 distributors across Vietnam, including 1 in the North, 4 in Ho Chi Minh City, and Riki Sport acting as both the main warehouse and a distributor.
On Shark Tank Vietnam Season 7, Riki Sport sought an investment of 15 billion VND for a 10% stake in the company, aiming to boost revenue, expand their brand reach, and dominate the market with the support of the Sharks.
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Yen shared that Riki Sport has only recently begun exploring e-commerce. However, she acknowledged that their products might not be a perfect fit for TikTok due to the platform’s 24-hour delivery requirement, which could be challenging for customized printed orders.
In response to Shark Minh Beta’s inquiry about their future plans, Riki Sport intends to use 50% of the investment to expand their product portfolio and develop warehouses in the North and Central regions to better serve their agents.
Shark Thai advised Riki Sport to replicate their successful manufacturing model and focus on building their brand. He offered a deal of 15 billion VND for a 30% stake and shared his willingness to provide guidance on brand development.
“With the rise of direct-to-consumer e-commerce, you face competition from both startup D2C retailers and low-cost cross-border e-commerce platforms from China.”
“To thrive, you must gradually transition to a D2C model. I always advise startups to embrace D2C and retail. Of course, there are different approaches to D2C. You can’t compete directly with your distributors, so you need to create a separate brand with unique designs to avoid channel conflict,” said Shark Binh. He offered 15 billion VND for a 25% stake and added, “I engage in various sports, and sportswear brands can leverage my image as a sports enthusiast in their marketing. I think you need me.”
Shark Hung also joined with an offer of 15 billion VND for a 15% stake, along with a KPI-linked clause. If the startup fails to meet the agreed-upon KPIs, they would be required to buy back Shark Hung’s shares at a rate of 3.5 times the basic interest rate set by the State Bank of Vietnam.
“Our short-term goal is to expand our product portfolio to include emerging sports in Vietnam, such as badminton and pickleball. In parallel, we aim to develop a private label to penetrate the retail market and establish a stronger brand presence on e-commerce platforms, which will, in turn, boost our agent channel. In the long run, we will develop both channels simultaneously,” Yen elaborated.
“Many Vietnamese fashion brands have become too focused on manufacturing and OEM, but how do they fare compared to H&M and Zara? I fully support your direction,” said Shark Binh, expressing his alignment with Riki Sport’s strategy.
Shark Binh quickly adjusted his offer to 15 billion VND for a 15% stake, requesting that the startup dedicate 1/3 of their resources to developing the D2C channel, leveraging his Next Commerce ecosystem.
With this new deal structure, the company’s valuation increased to 100 billion VND, up from the previous 60 billion VND valuation. After discussing with her co-founder, Yen accepted Shark Binh’s offer.
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