Sport
When I met Leo and the Messi family, it was clear that they had a bold vision for the future. Hovagimyan
Bloomberg reports that soccer star Lionel Messi plans to create a sports holding company, investing in sports, media, and technology worldwide.
The statement said that San Francisco-based Play Time Sports-Tech HoldCo LLC would be Messi's primary investment vehicle. The company will explore independent opportunities, which could include, for example, helping startup founders to create football technology companies or investing in football clubs.
"I'm excited to extend our roots to Silicon Valley, and I'm excited that Play Time will be partnering with bold entrepreneurs from around the world," Messi said in a statement.
"Play Time" will be managed by Razmik Hovagimyan, a partner of the "Graph Ventures" venture company. Michael Marques, the founding partner of the investment bank "Code Advisors LLC," will be a special consultant.
Hovagimian is also the co-founder of the soccer initiative Matchday.com, which Play Time sees as its first investment, which it plans to launch in November, before the start of the FIFA World Cup. The holding also has shares in football technology startup AC Momento.
"Since I joined in 2017, I met Leo and the Messi family; it was clear that they have a bold vision for the future," Hovagimyan said. "They want to continue to have a direct and lasting impact on and off the field."
