Nakie’s licensing playbook: How a $100 million outdoor brand is using major partnerships to grow

In Short:
– Nakie, co-founded by Dean, Jaryd and Tegan Leibbrandt, makes hammocks from recycled plastic and has over $100 million in sales.
– Licensing allows Nakie to reach new audiences, but colour matching can cause delays and stock management is unpredictable.

Australian outdoor brand Nakie has surpassed $100 million in lifetime sales after building its growth strategy around recycled products and high-profile licensing partnerships with some of the country’s biggest brands.

Founded by Dean, Jaryd and Tegan Leibbrandt in 2020, Nakie makes outdoor products using recycled plastic bottles.

The business says it has planted 3.5 million trees and diverted 30 million plastic bottles from landfill.

Its expansion has increasingly been driven by licensing deals, including partnerships with Better Beer, the NRL, AFL and Cricket Australia, with a collaboration with Minecraft also in the pipeline.

For Nakie, the value of licensing extends beyond putting a major brand’s logo on a product.

The Leibbrandts say the partnerships can open access to entirely new audiences and categories, bringing customers to the business who may never have encountered the brand otherwise.

That was particularly evident with its NRL range, where around half of buyers were previously unaware of Nakie, according to the founders.

How licensing deals work

For businesses looking to pursue licensing, the Leibbrandts say the process can begin simply by approaching a major brand directly or working through a licensing agency.

However, securing a deal requires more than having a product that can carry a recognisable logo. Potential partners are vetted on factors including sustainability, product quality and their ability to meet the standards of the brand or organisation.

The financial structure can also be significant. Licensing agreements typically run for around three years and involve a royalty on sales, alongside an annual minimum guarantee or retainer.

Nakie’s deals have included royalty rates of around 7.5% for its NRL partnership and 8% for AFL, with annual guarantees ranging from about $10,000 to $50,000 depending on the agreement.

For founders, that means licensing can provide access to powerful brands and new customers, but it also introduces additional costs and operational complexity.

The hidden challenges of licensing

Even after a deal is secured, execution can become one of the biggest challenges.

The Leibbrandts point to seemingly small details, such as getting exact Pantone colour matches approved, which can delay production when merchandise needs to meet strict brand guidelines.

One way Nakie has worked around the problem is by producing multiple colour variations on the product material, allowing licensors to select the closest match more quickly.

Stock management can be an even bigger challenge.

Sports licensing, in particular, makes demand difficult to predict because sales can be influenced by factors outside the business’s control. A team’s performance can suddenly change consumer demand, creating the risk of either running out of popular products or being left with excess stock.

For Nakie, licensing has therefore become more than a marketing exercise. The strategy is about using established brands to reach new customers and enter new categories, while balancing the costs, approvals and inventory risks that come with those partnerships.

The broader lesson for founders is clear: licensing can accelerate brand exposure, but the real opportunity lies in choosing partnerships that bring genuinely new customers rather than simply adding another logo to a product.