Grintafy Technologies raises $1.25 million for its talent discovery platform
Grintafy Technologies has raised $1.25 million in the Seed round investment led by Wa’ed Ventures. The round included participation from Nafithat Al Mustagbal Investments. This investment will fund the integration of new technologies, introducing new products for scouts, clubs, and academies, expand the team and grow new markets, all in an effort to discover new talents in the world of sports.
Grintafy is a Saudi-based talent discovery platform for amateur footballers who have dreams of going professional and was founded by Majdi Al-Lulu, who’s an expert in Technology Services with more than 15 years of experience. Grintafy allows users to find, join or organize games, rate players on their performances, work their way up the rankings, as well as view and track their performance. It also allows them to book services for their game such as fields, referees, coaches, and others. All of these features allow players to build their football CV in order to have it viewed by scouts and professional clubs. Grintafy also has a social engine that connects players showcasing their skills from all around the globe.
MAGNiTT got in touch with Founder and CEO, Majdi Al-Lulu after this exciting round where he opened up about his vision for the future of Grtinafy, "I envision Grintafy to become the go-to platform for dreamers worldwide, and that the future Saudi National Team will be discovered on Grintafy!". Majdi has big ambitions for his company as he also explained that the goal is to continue pursuing KSA and "levelling the playing field" for everyone, whilst also expanding internationally.
Majdi explained how the current COVID-19 crisis has affected their platform, but how they've also pivoted to ensure that users can still gain a full experience from the service, "We have recently introduced some new features that engage our users at home... we encourage our users to use the “Get Fit” feature that will help them get ready and be as fit as possible when it’s time to get back to the pitch. The “Get Ready” feature includes football workouts that can be done from home, and are supported by videos and instructions. We have also included a live broadcast feature where we host professional players to talk about their experience, give advice to young talent, and share their favorite workouts."
Wassim Basrawi, Managing Director of Wa’ed Ventures, said that, “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.”.
Ahmed Baghlaf, CEO of Nafithat Al Mustagal Investments, shared that, "The reinvestment in this round is a continuation of our belief in Grintafy's mission and their active contribution to Saudi Arabia's society. We have the utmost confidence in what the future holds for Grintafy."
Majdi Al-Lulu, Grintafy’s founder and CEO, said of the investment, “Getting funding from a powerhouse like Wa’ed Ventures is reconfirmation that Grintafy is on track to get to the next level.” He added, “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.”
Majdi also provided a peek into some of Grintafy's exciting growth plans, "We have been experimenting on integrating the platform with different and emerging technologies that serve our ultimate goal. We will start with wearable devices that measure the performance of the players. We will be also releasing two new products to the market which help scouts, clubs, and, academies discover and manage players."
Check out the full interview with Grintafy's Founder and discover more about this growing startup.
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COVID-19 further suppressed the number of deals in MENA-based startups in April but total funding increased by 202% as EMPG joined MENA’s unicorn list by raising $150M from existing shareholders. Learn more details in MAGNiTT’s April 2020 Dashboard.