Gone are the days of elite footballersbuying pubs.
Todays star players prefer to put their money into tech.
Kylian Mbappe is one of the new generations leaders.
The luxury brand has an ambitious business plan.
Over the next few years, the company plans to increase annual revenues from 60mn to 300mn.
Mbappes investment aims to accelerate these ambitions.
His 10% holding could also support a mooted IPO,Bloomberg reports.
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Loewe has not disclosed the transactions value, but Mbappe could afford a sizeable chunk of the business.
His new contract pays him 15mn a season and a jaw-dropping 150mn as a signing-on bonus.
Mbappe will also reportedly keep 80% of his image rights an unusually high number.
Clubs and players typically splits image rights 50/50.
The deal puts Mbappe on a path to even greater wealth.
Still just 25 years old, the forward is tipped to become the richest-ever footballer.
But hes far from the only one with cash to splash on tech.
A new team for Mbappe
A growing squad of footballers are putting their money into startups.
There are now enough of them to form a fantastic five-a-side team.
In goal, we have Iker Casillas, who captained Spain to a World Cup.
Casillas has a growing portfolio of Spanish tech investments, including cardiology startup Idoven and nutrition tracking app Indiya.
But he isnt just a big spender hes alsofounded asports tech accelerator program.
At the heart of our defence is Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand.
The elegant centre-half has a penchant for fintech,backingBritish contenders Yonder and Sokin.
Leading the midfield, we haveWorld Cup winner Blaise Matuidi.
In 2022, the Frenchmanlauncheda VC fund that target consumer startups in Europe and the US.
Weve partnered him with Cesc Fabregas another world champion.
The Spaniard is a veteran investor, financing British cloud video platform Grabyo in 2014.
More recently, hebackedSpanish protein startup Heura.
In attack, theres no one better than Mbappe.
Not only is the Frenchman a prolific investor and ludicrously wealthy hes also incredibly marketable.
On Instagram alone, he has 122 million followers.
Fanbases like this are hard to manufacture.
Theyre a big reason why footballers are valuable investors.
Loewe has capitalised on this appeal.
Before attracting Mbappes investment, the company employed him as a brand ambassador.
He laterlauncheda signature speaker with Loewe.
It could certainly be far more profitable than pulling pints.
Footballers arent the onlyinvestorstransforming startup funding.
Early birds can now buy2-for-1 ticketsfor the June event.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
