Decathlon launches investment subsidiary to drive diversification

French sporting goods retailer Decathlon unveiled its new strategic plan and revamped visual identity earlier this year, and has now announced the launch of a subsidiary called Pulse. Seeking to identify new growth drivers, Decathlon has set up Pulse to develop new concepts and business units internally, to acquire stakes in innovative start-ups, and to buy outright other brands and retailers.

Decathlon currently operates 1,700 stores and is owned by the Mulliez family. The amount of capital the group has earmarked for the Pulse project has not been disclosed. Pulse’s stated objective is to explore “new frontiers and generate additional growth in the long term.” Last year, Decathlon’s global revenue increased by only 1.15% (to reach €15.6 billion), after it grew by 12% in fiscal 2022.

This isn’t the first diversification initiative by Decathlon, which has been interested in start-ups in the past, through the JUMP support program introduced in 2020. The group is keen to stay in the innovation loop, while the sporting goods and wellness markets are thriving.

Above all, Decathlon has made it clear it intends to tap external opportunities to grow. The goal is to buy brands described as “solid,” therefore already well established, but also to acquire sporting goods retailers that are “forward-looking and able to revolutionise the sector.”

“Decathlon Pulse is a distinct and complementary entity to Decathlon, and shares its same ambition to move humanity through the wonders of sport. Decathlon Pulse will be dedicated to finding new growth drivers and game-changing innovations in the sports market,” said Barbara Martin Coppola, CEO of Decathlon since 2022.

To spearhead this project, also set to enable Decathlon to accelerate “the adoption of new sustainable business models,” the group has appointed Franck Vigo as managing director of Pulse, leading an independent ad-hoc team. Vigo has been with Decathlon for 21 years, and in 2019 he took charge of the “exploration” department, in other words of the group’s merger and acquisition division. Martin Coppola has been appointed president of Pulse.

In recent years, Decathlon has bought stakes in emerging companies, as well as assets such as specialist cycling retailer Alltricks, in 2019, and outdoor apparel and equipment e-tailer Bergfreunde, in 2024. In May, the group invested in textile recycling start-up Recyc’Elit. Decathlon has said it has invested nearly €400 million since 2018 for these operations.