Athlete Capital
Professional athletes earn a lot of money at a young age, but often don't realize that their careers come to an end in their mid-30s. A lack of financial knowledge and limited career opportunities due to limited education in these areas mean that they quickly lose their fortune.
In addition, the sports industry is faced with the question: How can sport foster through the sport itself?
This is why we integrate sports professionals into the world of start-ups with Athlete Capital.
Athletes in the startup investment sector
We accompany professional athletes on their way into the world of startup investments and, on the other hand, give young companies better access to this new group of business angels. They can use the athletes' special assets for their further development.
These include, for example, an extensive social media presence, but above all a strong character with attributes such as discipline, teamwork and resilience. These attributes match those of entrepreneurs surprisingly well. Not forgetting financial capital, of course.
Building a self-supporting system
With the help of professional athletes and our partners, such as serial entrepreneurs, investors and start-ups, we are building a self-promoting system that drives innovation in a wide range of industries.
Sounds like a perfect match!
But how can elite athletes master the major challenge of gaining a foothold in the start-up world?
Holistic approach with Athlete Capital
With Athlete Capital, we support them with a holistic approach. We provide the necessary expertise and enable access to an extensive professional network before the athletes make their own investments in high-quality start-ups based on their interests and values.
The implementation of a digital platform simplifies the process for everyone involved.
How did you get together as a team?
Behind every company is a team of individual personalities who work together and achieve a common goal. It's the same with us!
One of our most important assets is investment management, which Marion takes care for us. Due to her positions at FC Köln Hype Spin Accelerator and the impact investor capacura, she can assist our athletes with investment-specific questions as well as support start-ups from our portfolio. With her years of experience in innovation, she is responsible for our business development as well.
Mattis has the role of Sales and Investor Relations Management and uses his startup experience to acquire and mentor professional athletes for Athlete Capital and to present the hottest deals in our network.
Tim (aka. The Brain) perfectly rounds off our team in terms of marketing and product development. He, too, can now look back on experience from various positions at start-ups and shapes the profile of Athlete Capital both internally and externally.
The values between us are also a good fit. What we all have in common: A love of sport and an enthusiasm for start-up investments. We got to know each other at the beginning of 2022 at the German Sport University Cologne.
Everyone is highly motivated and we will not only strengthen the athlete angel culture in Germany and Europe every day, but completely reinvent it.
How did you come up with your idea?
Tim and Mattis got together via the start-up service of the German Sport University Cologne and worked out the idea for Athlete Capital.
A clear trend from the USA has shown that more and more athletes want to invest in start-ups and promote innovation. In Germany and Europe, the first sports professionals began to act as business angels.
Our goal was and is to support and expand this development. What was originally intended to be a start-up investment fund for professional athletes was then transformed into a matchmaking platform between sports professionals and start-ups during the ideation phase.
We got to know Marion through an idea competition at the Cologne Sport University. With her help, Athlete Capital's approach developed into a holistic digital platform as a business intelligence network for professional athletes.
What are you studying/working or what have you studied?
Marion has over 20 years of network and expertise in the areas of start-ups, investment, innovation and sport. Due to her former management positions at Deutsche Telekom, 1. FC Köln and the early-stage investor capacura, she is responsible for investment management and business development.
Tim and Mattis both have a Bachelor's degree in Sports Management and Sports Communication from the German Sport University Cologne.
Tim has already gained some marketing and founder associate experience at various start-ups. Mattis worked in sales management at the start-up NOMOO.
Funfact
Typical for us: We accompany the most famous professional footballer in Switzerland to an event. All fans take a photo with him, only we forget.