MATCHi

Game, Set, MATCHi – Verdane and Sprints Capital to support racket sports platform's international growth

MATCHi, the Nordic racket sports platform that connects players with venues through user-friendly tech, has announced a significant minority joint investment by Sprints Capital, the European growth capital investment firm, and Verdane, the Northern European specialist growth equity investor. With the help of Verdane and Sprints Capital’s digital consumer, software, and M&A experience, MATCHi plans to scale its operations internationally as it continues its mission to make racket sports easier, more enjoyable, and more accessible for all. Founder Daniel Ekman, who remains the largest shareholder, and Co-Founder Mattias Lundström will continue to lead the company.


Press release

Verdane and Sprints Capital invest in MATCHi

With 860,000 users, over 1,000 associated venues and 800,000 bookings made every month, MATCHi is the largest online booking platform for racket sports in the world seen to the number of purchases by active users. Founded in 2012 in Gothenburg, Sweden, by Chief Executive Daniel Ekman and Co-Founder and Head of Engineering Mattias Lundström, MATCHi offers a simplified court booking and payment system, activities and courses, player partnering, and automated racket rentals. It also provides administration, automation, and accounting services to venue operators. A market leader in Sweden, MATCHi also has operations in Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Spain, and has approximately doubled its revenues every year since 2012.

As MATCHi consolidates its position in the Nordic market, Sprints and Verdane will use their experiences from investments in the digital consumer sector to support MATCHi’s plans for international expansion and help build upon its scalable platform to develop new products and grow its existing customer base to new markets, with the aim of becoming the go-to platform for the global racket sports community.

Daniel Ekman, CEO at MATCHi, commented: “We built this company with a genuine love for racket sports and a wish to make people’s lives easier and more fun. Sprints and Verdane have extensive expertise in the software and digital consumer sector and understand growth. By bringing them on board, we will be able to scale our business both at home and internationally, and increase customer value even further on our mission to empower people in racket sports through user-friendly tech.”

Mattias Lundström, Head of Engineering at MATCHi, commented: “We are very proud of how strongly the company has performed, and our growth is a real testament to the strength of our team, software, and customers across our operating markets. As racket sports lovers, it’s great to see how many other people across the world share our passion. This is an exciting next step for MATCHi and we look forward to working with Sprints and Verdane, who with their digital and software sector experience can benefit us and our customers greatly.”

Daniel Ahlstrand, Principal at Verdane commented: “We have been following MATCHi for some time now, and are thoroughly impressed with the Company’s consistently strong growth in the Nordics. MATCHi is well-positioned to export its easy-to-use and scalable platform across Europe. We look forward to collaborating with Daniel, Mattias, and their team, and to working alongside Sprints Capital on this next exciting phase of MATCHi’s development to make racket sports easier, more enjoyable, and more accessible for all.”

Voria Fattahi, Partner at Sprints Capital commented: “We believe that MATCHi is uniquely positioned to excel in the coming years, and the company’s impressive growth to date is testimony to the passion the MATCHi team brings onto the court. With more people eager to play racket sports than ever, the Sprints team is looking forward to supporting MATCHi’s stellar team develop its best-in-class racket sports platform to the benefit of racket sports lovers everywhere.”

Click here to download the press release in pdf.

About MATCHi

MATCHi exists to empower people in racket sports through user-friendly tech. MATCHi’s booking platform not only helps clubs administer less but also connects venues with players through its marketplace. Combining in-depth market insights with technological expertise, MATCHi simplifies life for racket sports venues through every stage of the customer journey. Founded in 2012, MATCHi was created to facilitate the growth of racket sports and has in recent years grown to become one of the world’s largest companies in the segment. With over 1,000 venues, 860,000 players, and more than 50 employees spread out across the globe, MATCHi’s vision is to be the obvious platform for the global racket sports community.

More info: www.matchi.com
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About Verdane

Verdane is a specialist growth equity investment firm that partners with sustainable, tech-enabled Northern European businesses to help them reach the next stage of international growth. Verdane can invest as a minority or majority investor, either in single companies or through portfolios of companies, and looks to deploy behind three core themes; the Digital Consumer, Software Everywhere, and Sustainable Society. Verdane funds hold more than €3bn in total commitments and have made over 120 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003. Verdane’s team of over 70 investment professionals and operating experts, based out of Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo, and Stockholm, is dedicated to being the preferred growth partner to tech-enabled businesses in Northern Europe.

More infowww.verdane.com
Follow Verdane on LinkedIn

About Sprints Capital

Sprints Capital is an investment firm that provides growth capital and partners with technology-enabled growth companies with proven business models, strong and durable market positions, and excellent teams. The team behind Sprints has invested more than €2 billion of capital in over 50 companies in the last 20 years and has helped create some of the largest technology-enabled companies in Europe. With offices in London and Stockholm, its current portfolio includes Hemnet, Vivino, Revolut, Vinted, Bokadirekt, Teamtailor, and Chrono24.

More info: www.sprintscap.com

Follow Sprints Capital on LinkedIn

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