EFG board member Boris Collardi and Swiss men's national team coach Murat Yakin share a passion for soccer. They're investing in a soccer app that's approaching one million users in Brazil.
«Footbao» is the smartphone application with which entrepreneur Francesco Ciringione, active in Switzerland, wants to be the first to conquer the Brazilian market. Live for three months, the application has been downloaded more than 100,000 times and is closing in on one million users.
Soccer «Bears»
Two people who are prominent in their respective métiers in Switzerland are involved. According to an advance report in the business magazine «Bilanz» (in German, behind paywall), banker Boris Collardi and the Swiss men's national soccer team coach Murat Yakin are among Footbao's backers. Marco Parroni, head of marketing at private bank Julius Baer, also has an interest.
Collardi, whose current roles include shareholder and board member of private bank EFG International, served as CEO of Julius Baer from 2009 to 2017.
US and Europe on Deck
According to the app's creators, it's dedicated entirely to football. Players can create their profiles and upload videos showing off their skills. Users can add likes and scores from 1 to 10.
Collardi, who also sponsors the Italian soccer club, US Lecce, told «Bilanz» he's very confident that Footbao will spread quickly. The US and Europe are the next target markets. Work is also underway on monetization, which should interest Collardi and Yakin equally as investors.
