Mubarak “Bar” Malik knew last summer when he saw the 7-foot-3 French basketball star Victor Wembanyama play in Las Vegas that the 19-year-old NBA prospect could be the “one piece” left to bring the Barcode sports drink to new heights. With Wembanyama now officially on board as an equity investor in the brand, Malik is now ready to send his star player out onto the court.
The partnership includes five-year exclusive worldwide beverage rights for Wembanyama to act as the face of Barcode, as well as an equity stake in the plant-based beverage brand. The terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
The news comes just two months after Barcode quietly closed a seed round of investment for an undisclosed amount that valued the company at $30 million.
“It changes the game for us as far as what we have been doing and what we can do,” Malik told BevNET. “Athletes aren’t just going with the biggest players in the game because that’s what everyone traditionally does. With [Wembanyama] going with Barcode, I think it sets the tone for us going into bigger retailers and how we support him both in-home, out-of-home and digitally.”
Malik describes himself as a “ferocious leader” who has been working on the deal for about seven months, including multiple trips to Paris to talk with Wembanyama, his family and agency Comsport. Once the two parties got to know each other it seemed like an organic fit because Wembanyama is “different,” Malik said. “He invests his entire time in taking care of his body.”
Elodie, Wembanyama’s mother, herself a former professional basketball player in France, had been giving her son many of the same vitamins and ingredients that are in Barcode for years, Malik noted.
He said Wembanyama was drawn to the brand’s plant-based, zero-sugar formulation and it being “cool and young and on the forefront of the beverage industry.”
Now that the deal has been finalized, Barcode has begun to set up a Paris headquarters for the brand to work more closely with Wembanyama’s staff on a campaign surrounding the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, where Wembanyama will most likely play for the host country’s national basketball team.
As part of the deal, the young star will be a part of innovation and distribution strategy decisions. Seeing as the highly anticipated athlete was recently drafted to the San Antonio Spurs, Barcode is eyeing Texas as the obvious first choice to increase its points of distribution.
One big target for the brand is H-E-B, which is a partner of the Spurs organization. The company has already started talking with the Texas-based retailer and included Wembanyama on a call, Malik noted.
Yet, Barcode sees opportunity beyond just Texas retailers and is looking to capitalize on Wembanyama’s reach into the European market. The brand is already lining up the “right people in Paris that can help us navigate the distribution and manufacturing touch-points that we need to get product there efficiently,” Malik said.
Not only that but the brand hopes to utilize Wembanyama’s impact on the new generation of talent coming out of France and Europe to possibly line up new endorsements.
“When you think of all the talent that comes out of France, they usually play and participate on behalf of sport and now we’ll have exclusive access to those younger athletes, as they get drafted, as they play, as they go across to different teams in the U.S.,” Malik said.
Founded in 2021 in partnership with Washington Wizards star Kyle Kuzma, Barcode has a number of athlete investors including Carmelo Anthony, boxer Gervonta Davis, Derek Fisher and Jordan Clarkson among others.
Barcode launched as an alternative to the high-sugar sports drinks on the market capitalizing on Malik’s experience (and connections) as a sports trainer and as former head of player performance with the New York Knicks. The coconut water-based drink features adaptogens like ashwagandha as well as B vitamins, Vitamin D and magnesium for recovery.
Barcode is currently available in five flavors: Lemon Lime, Concord Grape, Watermelon, Black Cherry and, its newest addition, Malibu Punch that was released in late April.
The brand is already readying a new flavor to launch by the end of the year with Wembanyama, Malik said. The company is not ready to lift the curtain on what its first new variety will be, but Malik expects the packaging to play into the big man’s interest in Star Wars movies, with the potential of introducing some gold foil packaging and bright colors to the bottles.