The captain of the Argentine soccer team, Lionel Messi, founded a company that will invest in sports, media and technology around the world.
The new firm called Play Time Sports-Tech HoldCo LLC, will be based in the US city of San Francisco and will be the main vehicle from now on for the Paris Saint Germain player’s investments.
The investment holding company will be dedicated to exploring “agnostic” opportunities that could include, for example, financing clubs or startups related to football technology.
“I am excited to extend our roots in Silicon Valley and I am delighted that Play Time will collaborate with entrepreneurs from all over the world,” said the Argentine star. in a statement released by the Bloomberg agency.
On a day-to-day basis, Play Time will be hosted by Razmig Hovaghimian, an American businessman who is a partner in the venture capital firm Graph Ventures.
Meanwhile, Michael Marquez, founder of the investment bank Code Advisors, will act as advisor to Messi’s new venture.
Hovaghimian is the co-founder of Matchday.com, a soccer-related gaming website that will open before the next World Cup in Qatar and that counts Play Time as its first investor.
“Since I met Leo and the Messi family in 2017, it is clear that his vision for the future is bold”Hovaghimian said.
The Rosario star’s partner pointed out that Messi and his family “want to continue having a direct and lasting impact on and off the pitch.”
Messi is not the first elite athlete to decide to dedicate himself to investments.
SelenaWilliams, A 23-time grand slam-winning tennis player, she created a venture capital firm (Serena Ventures) that raised $111 million this year, and has invested in a myriad of startups from cryptocurrency wallets to online education and healthy food delivery platforms. .
While, Lebron Jamesthe highest-paid player in NBA history, invested US$100 million in 2020 to found an audiovisual content production company (SpringHil Company), has invested US$30.5 million in Canyon – a German company that produces bicycles used in competitions professionals-, acquired a stake in the owner of English Liverpool, and is a minority owner of the Boston Red Sox of the American baseball league as well as a Nascar team.
For his part, the tennis player Roger Federer has invested nearly US$49 million in On Holding, a Swiss sneaker-maker that plans to raise US$622 million with its IPO in New York, while seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has become co-owner of the Denver Broncos NFL team, and has financed nutritional drink firms and vegetarian restaurants.
