UK Soccer Startup Homefans Launches Crowdfunding Campaign

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“It’s not a football match, it’s an experience” is the slogan for Homefans, a new business co-founded by Daniel Velasquez.

The company is a travel operator providing unique football experiences beyond the 90 minutes of a match and in Daniel’s own words; they “design authentic and accessible experiences to help fans tick off their football bucket list”.

After receiving his Master’s degree from Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) in 2014, as well as setting up companies in his native Colombia, Daniel wanted to try something new. “I wanted to come to the UK after having studied in other countries like Austria, Spain or Germany and the AMBS course was the perfect fit for me. In addition, I left Colombia having set up two companies and wanted to pursue the entrepreneurial journey here in the UK”.

He adds: “This period of time was crucial to ideate, test, and adjust the business to the needs of the market. Now we’re entering the challenging phase of achieving growth via the crowdfunding campaign.”

Going Global

The startup has big plans for the future however and is seeking to expand into emerging markets such as other sports, geographies and even music festivals. Today, they are launching a crowdfunding campaign to let people invest in them. With regards to expanding though, the US ‘soccer’ market could be one of them:

UK Soccer Startup Homefans Launches Crowdfunding Campaign

Daniel Velasquez & Luke Verbeek, co-founders of Homefans

“Regarding new markets, we will soon unveil our first trip to Argentina, and the US Soccer market is in our plans,” Daniel says. “As our proposal is all about the experience, not only the match, we see a lot of potential in these markets. Fan bases are very interesting (such as Orlando City or Portland), infrastructure is one of the best, and there’s obviously a synergy with the touristic element in some cities; a perfect combination of an unforgettable experience.”

“Personally speaking, I believe the US League will grow but I see more potential embracing the football model of promotion and relegation as opposed to the current franchise scheme to make that happen.”

For the time being though, Daniel, along with founder Luke Verbeek, are aiming to progress the business one step at a time: “As of now, with the funds we plan to raise, we will launch a new series of trips, like long weekends of football in a luxury van for a group of fans on the road, or city-based journeys mixing the best of professional and non-league football.”

Finally, after a successful season taking 250 travelers and proving the concept, Homefans is launching a crowdfunding campaign on 15 September with a target of 113,600 Euro. With the investment, they plan to launch new trips, scale up the marketing strategy and speed up growth to have a return on investment for the shareholders.

“On top of giving away equity, we have prepared a very attractive list of rewards, from trip discounts to the Champions League Final experience. Involving the community and investors in the running of the business is the best alternative in the market to democratize football traveling.”

 

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