Romanian startup Nordensa, which wants to revolutionize football talent discovery through a fan-based platform, has secured €1.65 million in a seed funding round, according to TechStartups.
Following the funding round, Nordensa has added some big names from the industry to the Advisory Board, such as Alan Pace, owner of Burnley FC, and Chris Kay, Marketing Director of Manchester City FC.
The money came from several investors, including investment funds Vertical Seven Group, Cabrio Investment and the company DMA Development, according to Sifted.
The Romanian company was founded in 2022 and is based in Cluj-Napoca. Nordensa proposes a platform through which fans can buy shares in the “trial” contracts of football players. These players are carefully selected by recruiters from the Premier League and Bundesliga.
Investors have the opportunity to earn up to 8% of the player’s earnings over the next five years, distributed to all supporters.
In the future, the startup plans to announce partnerships with more European clubs and academies. They also want to expand into new territories and add more sports to the platform.
With a current valuation of €15 million, Nordensa is launching a Bridge round to raise an additional €1.5 million in funding, paving the way for a Series A round later this year, during which 20% of the company will be available for new investors.
Adrian Docea, the man behind Nordensa, is originally from Alba-Iulia, has a master’s degree in advertising at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca and also founded the startup branding company Heraldist in 2014, according to LinkedIn data .