Update (Oct. 20, 10:00 a.m. SGT): This article was updated to include details about Play Time’s investment in Matchday.
Derrick Ko, one of the Singaporeans behind e-scooter startup Spin, has co-founded a new venture focusing on European football.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
While there isn’t a lot known about Matchday right now, the company said it aims to deliver “football at its most authentic and personal.” Tech in Asia has reached out to Ko to find out more about the new startup.
The company’s first backer is Play Time, a new investment firm established by soccer legend Lionel Messi and run by Razmig Hovaghimian – who is also Ko’s co-founder at Matchday – according to a Bloomberg report.
Based in the US, Play Time seeks to invest in startups and teams that revolve around sports and tech. Besides Matchday, it’s also an investor in football-focused startup AC Momento.
Ko and Hovaghimian are building Matchday alongside Benny Wong, who previously served as the CTO of Spin. Wong was also the head of mobile at Envoy and worked as an engineering manager at Fitbit.
The founders expect Matchday to launch before the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup.
Before Matchday, Ko helped build up Spin, which was originally a bike-sharing startup coming out of San Francisco before transitioning to e-scooters. The firm went on to be acquired by US auto giant Ford in 2018 in a reported US$100 million deal.
See also: These Singaporeans built a scooter startup and sold it to Ford for $100m in 20 months
Editing by Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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