Football platform 433
acquires DSTF stake
Jogo

The popular football platform 433 is acquiring the Dutch startup Jogo.AI. Jogo helps improve the performance of young footballers through video footage and sensors in shoes. 433 was founded by, among others, former footballer Demy de Zeeuw and has more than 50 million followers. Dutch Sport Tech Fund, the only Dutch fund that focuses exclusively on investments in sport-tech companies, invested in the startup eight months ago and is pleased with this exit.

David Dwinger, founder of Jogo, and 433-founder Demy de Zeeuw hope that the company will grow into a unicorn within four years: a tech company valued at at least one billion euros. Jogo has previously signed deals with, among others, Valencia, Manchester City, and Benfica.

433 has around 70 million users, half of whom access the platform via Instagram. The platform achieves two billion views per month, with approximately 45 percent of those views coming from the (hard-to-reach) Generation Y (20-34-year-olds). The growth is one hundred percent organic and is partly driven by influencers such as LeBron James, Messi, Depay, Pique, and Neymar. The company collaborates with major names like Nike, Adidas, Red Bull, Puma, and EA Sports. 

433 is popular among Generation Y, while Jogo is appealing to Generation Z (young people up to twenty years old). The fact that both platforms attract different age groups is not the only synergy benefit of this acquisition. Jogo develops sensors for football boots, which are now being introduced to the millions of fans of 433. With the acquisition of Jogo, 433 brings IT expertise in-house, which is much needed for future growth. Jogo will continue as 433 Pro.

Mark Snijders, Chief Investment Officer of Dutch Sport Tech Fund: “We usually invest in scale-ups, but Jogo CEO David Dwinger convinced us to invest in his startup. He shared an ambitious growth plan, showcased a rapidly growing number of users, and had a well-thought-out B2B2C revenue model. Moreover, he understood his user base (13- to 19-year-olds) like no other; his Generation Z son plays the leading role in many of Jogo’s professional videos. When we invested in Jogo eight months ago, we could not have imagined that the world’s largest football platform would acquire it so soon afterwards.”

There will be a share swap between the two companies: Jogo will acquire a stake in 433 in exchange for 100% of its own shares. Alexander Janssen, CEO of DSTF: “This deal feels like a real-life fairy tale. Our management team fully supports this transaction. The growth, user numbers, cost of user acquisition, and social media exposure are impressive at both companies. There is strong synergy between both parties, as well as with our other investments. In this deal, Jogo was valued at three to four times our entry value. We are delighted with this acquisition and will remain involved with our minority stake, now as a shareholder in the world’s largest football platform: 433.”