Gone are the days of elite footballers buying pubs. Today's star players prefer to put their money into tech.
Kylian Mbappe is one of the new generation's leaders. The French captain has his own investment company, Coalition Capital, which just bought a stake in German electronics giant Loewe Technology.
The luxury brand has an ambitious business plan. Over the next few years, the company plans to increase annual revenues from €60mn to €300mn.
Mbappe's investment aims to accelerate these ambitions. His 10% holding could also support a mooted IPO, Bloomberg reports.
Loewe has not disclosed the transaction's value, but Mbappe could afford a sizeable chunk of the business.
In May, Forbes placed his net worth at $110mn (€98mn) — and that was before he joined Real Madrid. His new contract pays him €15mn a season and a jaw-dropping €150mn as a signing-on bonus.
Mbappe will also reportedly keep 80% of his image rights — an unusually high number. Clubs and players typically splits image rights 50/50.
The deal puts Mbappe on a path to even greater wealth. Still just 25 years old, the forward is tipped to become the richest-ever footballer. But he's far from the only one with cash to splash on tech.
A new team for Mbappe
A growing squad of footballers are putting their money into startups. There are now enough of them to form a fantastic five-a-side team.
In goal, we have Iker Casillas, who captained Spain to a World Cup. Casillas has a growing portfolio of Spanish tech investments, including cardiology startup Idoven and nutrition tracking app Indiya. But he isn't just a big spender — he's also founded a sports tech accelerator program.
At the heart of our defence is Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand. The elegant centre-half has a penchant for fintech, backing British contenders Yonder and Sokin. He's also splashed his cash on French NFT football game Sorare, which was valued at a whopping $4.3 billion in 2021.
Leading the midfield, we have World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi. In 2022, the Frenchman launched a VC fund that target consumer startups in Europe and the US.
We've partnered him with Cesc Fabregas — another world champion. The Spaniard is a veteran investor, financing British cloud video platform Grabyo in 2014. More recently, he backed Spanish protein startup Heüra.
In attack, there's no one better than Mbappe. Not only is the Frenchman a prolific investor — and ludicrously wealthy — he's also incredibly marketable. On Instagram alone, he has 122 million followers.
Fanbases like this are hard to manufacture. They're a big reason why footballers are valuable investors.
Loewe has capitalised on this appeal. Before attracting Mbappe's investment, the company employed him as a brand ambassador. He later launched a signature speaker with Loewe.
With footballers becoming brands of their own — and amassing generational wealth in the process — they can look forward to lucrative futures as startup investors. It could certainly be far more profitable than pulling pints.
Footballers aren't the only investors transforming startup funding. At next year's TNW Conference, a star-studded lineup of tech luminaries will explore all the ways in which Europe's investment landscape is shifting. Early birds can now buy 2-for-1 tickets for the June event.