An app is looking for the world’s next Messi or Neymar or Pelé, and it just got $6.2 million to aid its search.
Tonsser, the Copenhagen-based creators behind a soccer performance app that works a bit like LinkedIn for young soccer players, just got $6.2 million (€5.5 million) in Series A funding from a group led by early-stage investors Alven Capital, TechCrunch reports. The “football performance app,” which has over 800,000 registered football players, helps youth soccer players build their online profile, show off their skills, track their stats, and potentially connect with bigger clubs and talent scouts across Europe. While the exact details of its business model are reportedly still a work in progress, it has partnerships with Nike and more working in its favor.
Tonsser even put on competitions and trials where young players can strut their scissor kicks and rainbows to try and impress Europe’s biggest academies. Currently the app is available in eight European countries, including Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and France, where 86% of French youth teams from 15-19 are registered with the app. The new cash will be used to spur growth across European markets like in England, where the app will launch in spring 2019, and is preparing a global rollout to hopefully tap into the global talent (rumor has it that Brazil and Argentina are good at this sport) and maybe even the United States.
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