In 2022, an idea developed by two sports students evolved into a functioning platform for professional athletes interested in startup investments.
The year 2022 is coming to an end. The last days of the year are always a good opportunity to process the time that has passed. For us at Athlete Capital, exciting months lie behind us. In the year 2022, an idea developed by two sports students evolved into a functioning platform for professional athletes interested in startup investments.
The starting gun was fired on January 21st. Within a seminar at the German Sports University in Cologne, we developed the original idea for Athlete Capital and were awarded first place in the "Idea" category after a pitch before an external jury at the "DSHS Ideathlon," the startup competition of the Sports University.
For us, it was a sign that we were on the right track with our vision to establish startup investments in the scene of professional athletes as an attractive asset. Together, we decided to push the project forward alongside our studies and part-time jobs. Over several weeks, we held conversations with experienced people in the sports business and first professional athletes, adjusted the business model and promoted the idea to the public. An important point in our development at this time was our first public appearance as a startup at SportX in Cologne, a sports business event on May 24th. For the first time, we stood on stage and gave a 30-second pitch.
Driven by the positive feedback, we dove into further conversations in the sports business to expand our network. By mid-year, we took the first steps in the startup scene. As intermediaries between two target groups, innovative startups are an important part of our platform. Here too, we received positive feedback and were able to close our first partnerships.
At the same time, the development of our website began. Together with the web design agency Creavy, we created our first landing pages and launched them on October 1st. We also expanded our team. Marion Reichel, who had been active as our mentor in the previous months, joined the team and took on the important role of investment management.
In November, we started planning our first test phase and developing our MVP. On December 2nd, we finally launched the Athlete Capital platform. As the first matching platform for professional athletes with an interest in startup investments, we already offer some features such as a vetted portfolio of 20 startups, two different investment models and investment-as-a-service. In the future, many more will follow. On the professional athletes' side, we can already see registrations in the first days.
From an initial idea of two students to a startup with a digital platform in a test phase... we are proud of what we have achieved in 2022 and are looking forward to the future.
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