Jeddah-based football talent discovery platform Grintafy has raised USD 1.25 million in a seed round led by Wa’ed Ventures with participation by Nafithat Al Mustagbal Investments, the company said in a statement to MENAbytes earlier this week.
Founded in 2018, Grintafy connects amateur football players with scouts and professional clubs through its web and mobile-based platform. The footballers can use the platform to find, join, or organize games, get rated for their performances, and work their way up the rankings.
Their profile serves as a football CV with details about their performance, playing behavior, team history, and videos, which allows professional clubs and scouts to headhunt them. The platform also allows the players to book different services for their games, including fields, referees, and coaches.
In short, Grintafy is a social network for football players, local clubs, scouts, and service providers.
The startup claims to have over 200,000 users who have organized more than 8,000 games, posted more than 25,000 records (and 100,000 ratings), made 100,000 game requests, and sent more than half a million messages.
“Through our strategic partnership with Saudi Premier Al Wehda Club and other clubs in the pipeline, we are providing young talent with the opportunities, technologies, and exposure needed to make their dreams come true,” said the startup in a statement.
Grintafy plans to use the investment to introduce new products for scouts, clubs, and teams, expand its team, and launch new markets.
Majdi Al-Lulu, Grintafy’s founder and CEO said, “Getting funding from a powerhouse like Wa’ed Ventures is reconfirmation that Grintafy is on track to get to the next level. With this investment and based on the current data and analytics available, our team is keen on working towards helping the kingdom’s vision in the sports domain, come to life. Grintafy wants to be responsible for discovering the future Saudi national team.”
Wassim Basrawi, managing director of Wa’ed Ventures, said, “Grintafy has great prospects to improve the local scouting domain for sports athletes, improve amateur talent, and further develop the regional sports industry. The platform has achieved promising milestones, and with Wa’ed Ventures’ investment and support, the company has strong promise to democratize sports scouting.”
This article first appeared on MENAbytes.