Venum - French conquest in the world of martial arts
Łukasz
lut 6, 2020

Venum - French conquest in the world of martial arts

Brands

About a decade ago a French-Brazilian serpent found its way onto the boxing rings and gym floors around the world. Its name is Venum, and we would like to describe to you its captivating story.

At its conception, the brand itself was affiliated with the website Dragon Bleu. “The Blue Dragon” served as a center for knowledge about fight gear and an online marketplace. It was established in May of 2004 when a Frenchman Franck Dupuis began his expansion into the world of Martial Arts from the comfort of his quiet Parisian apartment by creating a website dedicated to fight sports.

His goal was to provide people with more alternatives for professional boxing and MMA equipment at an affordable price. Franck, being the visionary that he was, managed to predict rapid increase in the popularity of a discipline that we now know as the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Soon after establishing the website, Franck introduced a new line of fight sports equipment and clothing supplied by Brazilian manufacturers. The instant success on a massive scale might have overwhelmed the aspiring businessman as well as his partners on the other side of Atlantic Ocean- the quality of fight gear sold under the Blue Dragon brand quickly began to drop, deliveries were frequently delayed, and the customer dissatisfaction grew accordingly.

In the summer of 2005, Franck went back to the drawing board and came up with the idea for another brand- this time focused on the quality above anything else. His customers were enough forgiving to give him another chance… and thus who was born Venum, which was soon to become one of the leading suppliers of sports gear for fighters around the globe. Learning from his previous failures, Franck teamed up with his colleague from the previous job at IBM, who eagerly took some of the responsibilities in managing the Blue Dragon website and e-store, which allowed Frank to focus on building the Venum brand. They continued to cooperate until the year 2014 when they parted ways, unexpectedly though amicably. Franck had been the sole shareholder of Venum ever since.

Rapid growth

Already at the beginning they bet everything on the growing market for MMA sports gear. Rapid progression of this sector was going to have an earthquake like impact on the industry. In the first decade of the 21st Century, most amateur and semi-professional fighting gear was off poor quality and unoriginal. Clever, imaginative design made the Venum products stand out. The customers clearly appreciated care for the detail and quality of the product. In 2006 the company opened another workshop in Rio de Janeiro, at the heart of exploding mixed martial arts scene. This proved to be a masterful move for the company.

MMA Champions Team

As part of its promotion efforts, the company chose to sponsor several professional fighters: Canadian Denis Kang, Jeff Monson from the US and a Brazilian native Pequeno. Every year another celebrated personality would join their team until around five years later they formed the legendary quartet: Wanderlei Silva, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua. The Venum fan base continues to be dominated by Brazilian rather than French fans, which would explain why it is often mistaken for a South American brand. Another reason might be that the official logo (designed in Rio) is a Brazilian snake.

From 2006 till 2009 the catalogue included a lot of MMA-related equipment (MMA gloves, rash guards, shorts and other kinds of fightwear) as well as different accessories (hand wraps, ankle support, sleeves). During that time they also introduced their first Brazilian Jiu Jitsu kimono as well as a new line of casual clothin- fans could finally buy Venum hats, hoodies, t-shirts or even sandals. At the end of 2009, in order to deal with the growing demand it became necessary to introduce some radical changes into the supply chain. As a result of years spent on searching for reliable and innovative manufacturers who would be capable of increasing the quality of the gear the production was moved from Brazil to Thailand. In 2010 the country of a Thousand Smiles was chosen as the location for a new R&D and manufacturing center. Once again, Franck had made the right call. Thai suppliers were able to deliver higher quality gear for the global markets at more attractive prices than before. Within just a few years, Venum and their local partners outran all their competitors and became the biggest manufacturers and exporters in Thailand.

Best Team

Further development required the company to expand into new disciplines. Soon, new kinds of sport equipment were put on the offer: different types of boxing and MMA gloves, headgear, shin guards. Venum made use of their new location and, with help from their Thai business partners and in cooperation with renowned fighters, designed unique types of muay thai training and fighting gear. Until today, Venum gloves can be seen on gyms around the world and on the hands of such celebrated athletes as Giorgio Petrosyan, Sitthichai, Chingiz Allazov or Cedric Doumbé.

Step into the ring

Since 2018, Venum had been trying their luck with the global boxing heavyweights, competing in the incredibly demanding and exclusive world of competitive boxing. They signed contracts with Jorge Linares and Miguel Berchelt, and continued researching the market with the best experts in the industry. They used the newly acquired knowledge to introduce a new line of gloves, sportswear and accessories of highest quality: Venum Pro Boxing. Last year, in 2019, Venum signed Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Alexander Besputin. After beating their opponents in other disciplines: MMA, BJJ and Muay Thai, Venum is gaining ground in the world of professional boxing gear. Another round begins…

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