Prematch scores €1.7 million-goal to bring pro-level football experiences to masses

With the FIFA world cup knocking at our doorsteps and the general rise in the number of VCs putting in their money in sports tech, there has been a big upswing in the digitised soccer market.

Companies leading game are Paris-based Sorare, which raised a mammoth $680 million in a Series B funding round last year and Berlin’s OneFootball, which brought in $300 million this year to create new digital fan experiences year.

Betting big on the segment, Cologne-based sports tech startup Prematch has scored a goal with €1.7 million in funding to bring pro-footballer experience to the masses. The new funding will be used to continue developing the platform and expand across Germany, one of Europe’s footballing hubs.

The investors include a consortium of founders, angel investors and decision makers from the sports ecosystem, including Ralf Reichert, Jörg Kattner, Hannes Winzer, Thorsten Wirth, Daniel Delonga, Florian Fritsche (head of sports at Amazon) and Felix Krause (VP of consumer strategy at DAZN). 

Founded in 2021 by Fiete Grünter, Lukas Röhle and Niklas Brackmann, Prematch aims to become a super platform for non-professional football in Europe. It aims to bring pro-level experiences such as news, data and gamification, to the mega football community. Given that there are an estimated +190 million football fans out there, Prematch is entering a massive market. 

According to the co-founders, a new generation of soccer players and fans is currently growing up. The commercialisation of professional soccer is having an impact. ‘Real soccer’ will rapidly gain in importance due to this trend and advancing digitisation.

With data on over 2 million players, the platform combines components from social networks and soccer platforms from the professional sector. It allows every active soccer player to follow themselves and their friends and teammates – just like they could follow Ronaldo and Messi. 

Ralf Reichert commented: “The future of modern soccer is gamified and hyper-personalized. There is incredible potential in the amateur sector.”