Shark Tank is a reality TV show originating from the US by SONY PICTURES. Participants are representatives of startups. They will present their project and convince the Sharks (investors) to invest in the enterprise. Shark Tank is successful in many countries around the world and has been licensed to broadcast in Vietnam since 2016.
After 4 seasons, Shark Tank in Vietnam has successfully invested in 112 startups, with a total amount of committed investment up to 976 billion VND. In which, the largest deal was 6 million USD (138 billion VND).
Many startups have been invested with millions of dollars on Shark Tank Vietnam. How are they after the investment? Let's find out with Vietdata.
Gcalls (2017)
Sector: Telesales and customer service
Deal value: 1 million USD for 45% share
After appearing on Shark Tank and raising capital successfully, so far Gcalls has recorded no breakthroughs. The company's liabilities increased from about 1.7 billion VND in 2017 to 2.8 billion VND in 2021. Equity remained increasing negatively (from -1.2 billion VND to -2.4 billion VND). The financial statements of Gcalls have not yet shown the $1 million investment.
The company only recorded revenue and profit after 2018, although revenue increased steadily, but profit after tax was not stable. Their net revenue increased from about VND 780 million in 2019 to VND 1.7 billion in 2021. Gcalls had a very strong revenue growth, but the revenue was low and not commensurate with what the business has presented on the show.
Power Centric – MOPO Battery (2018)
Sector: Energy storage
Deal value: 1 million USD for 25% share
MOPO does not release financial statements for the year 2020-2021. Data show MOPO has a significant increase in debt. Liabilities increased from about 3.6 billion VND in 2017 to 29 billion VND in 2019. Equity loans and debts also increased from about 4.7 billion VND to over 10.6 billion VND. The loans are mainly invested by the company in their assets.
Thanks to the marketing effect of the show, MOPO recorded a breakthrough in revenue in 2019 (from only about 141 million VND in net revenue in 2018, increased to over 14 billion VND in 2019). Despite having a gross profit of about 50% of revenue, MOPO's profit after tax remained negative due to other expenses and high interest rates.
Soya Garden (2018)
Sector: F&B
Deal value: 15 billion VND. In 2019, the value of the total investment package increased to 100 billion VND.
Soya Garden became explosive after appearing on the show. After only 1 year, they achieved a tremendous growth rate of nearly 2,000%, from 2 stores to nearly 40 stores in many provinces and big cities nationwide. All of Soya's financial ratios skyrocketed in 2019. Revenue from just 1.3 billion VND in 2018 has increased to over 96 billion VND in 2019. However, the business has always maintained a loss after tax.
Soya has been heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic since 2019, with the revenue of 96 billion VND in 2019, decreasing to about 56 billion VND in 2020 and only about 8.8 billion VND in 2021. However, currently, this chain has withdrawn from the market in Ho Chi Minh City and maintaining only 4 stores in Hanoi. The company's CEO said that it is restructuring the store chain according to the kiosk model. Soya Garden's transformation to a new business model is considered the right direction, contributing to reducing the pressure of rental costs that are already too high, helping this business step by step recover after the epidemic season.
Astra (2019)
Sector: Travelling social media
Deal value: 1 million USD for 15% share
Astra appeared on "Shark Tank Vietnam" in September 2019 and successfully raised 1 million USD from Shark Pham Thanh Hung. However, when this social network launched the Open Beta, the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Vietnam. The travel sector was one of the most seriously affected industries, and the continuous social distancing for 2 years made this travel app became superfluous.
The company's equity and assets remained unchanged. Assets fluctuated at about 25-29 billion VND, equity decreased slightly from nearly 25.5 billion VND in 2019 to over 23.6 billion VND. The enterprise’s revenue was not available, but they only show the after-tax profit, which remained negative.
Nhiet Mat Troi (2019)
Sector: Drying technology using solar energy
Deal value: 1 million USD divided in stages, the first stage is 5 billion for 50% shares
After the successful negotiation on the show, the enterprise has recorded no changes in the financial statements. The business did not have high revenue and profit, but they were quite well. Revenue from about 400 million VND increased to over 5.1 billion VND. Both gross profit and after-tax profit were only hundreds of million VND. From 2019 to 2021, the enterprise recorded a profit after tax of 76.5 million VND, 557 million VND and nearly 325 million VND, respectively.
Perfect (2019)
Sector: Household appliances
Deal value: 1.2 million USD as preferential loans
It can be said that Perfect has maintained their business well despite being affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. Although the company's equity was only about 3 billion VND, the business has very high liabilities, increasing from about 76 billion VND in 2019 to 86 billion VND in 2021.
The company's net revenue peaked in 2019, with over 110 billion VND but decreased to only about 88 billion VND in 2021. Despite having a net revenue up to hundreds of billions, the business only achieved the highest profit of about 40 million VND by 2020.
Luxstay (2019)
Sector: Short-term accommodation sharing and booking platform
Deal value: 6 million USD from 3 investors
According to information shared in newspapers, the total equity that Luxstay had from various sources was up to 15 million USD. On the balance sheet of the enterprise, only an increase in equity in the period 2018-2021 was recorded from VND 9 billion to over VND 55 billion (equivalent to about 2 billion USD).
Taking part in Shark Tank gave this business a good marketing effect, the company's net revenue increased from about 2 billion VND in 2018 to over 11.5 billion VND in 2019. Despite having quite high gross profit, Luxstay still suffers after-tax losses with a loss of over 39 billion VND in 2019. During the period of Covid-19 epidemic, the tourism stagnation caused Luxstay to be severely affected, revenue decreased to only about 2.7 billion VND in 2019.
Startup is a risky game with only a few winners. Successful fundraising on the Shark Tank program provides a source of investment and a very effective marketing tool. However, the successful in dealing does not help businesses "to make a smashing hit", not all businesses are invested after the program. And the financial management so as not to waste the capital is another hard barrier.
Source: Vietdata