OneFootball has raised $300 million in working capital, completing its series-D funding round led by blockchain investment fund and incubator Liberty City Ventures.

The funding round was executed to accelerate the football media platform’s growth and tech expansion within Web-3 to “drive platform and user growth, fund further product development and support an expansion of the OTT streaming portfolio.”

Proceeds will be used to establish ‘OneFootball Labs’ – a new venture that will enable football clubs, leagues, federations and players to release digital assets and fan-centric experiences based on blockchain technology.

Founded in 2008 as a football results app, Berlin-based OneFootball has grown its user base to more than +100 million monthly active users that engage with its comprehensive coverage of live results, stats, news, matchday information and live stream content.   

 The OneFootball Labs venture aims to deliver a new era football fan consumption, providing accessible, affordable, and unique  experiences that will drive mass adoption of blockchain technology, benefiting football fans globally. 

“OneFootball will take tens of millions of football supporters from Web2 to Web3, while retaining the thing our platform was built on – a commitment to the real-world fan,” Lucas von Cranach, Founder and CEO of OneFootball, explained. 

“We’ve got big plans for the future and this successful Series D fundraising round – following long-term strategic investments in leading Web3 businesses – will help us to go even further.

“We believe the future of football away from the stands and off the pitch will be decentralised and built on Web3, giving back the ownership of data and digital assets to the fans. OneFootball and OneFootball Labs will transform the digital experiences for football fans, giving them more access, more ownership and bringing them even closer to the game we all love, in a way that’s never been done before.”

 Leading the $300 million funding round, blockchain venture capital fund Liberty City gained the support of investors Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, DAH Beteiligungs GmbH, Quiet Capital, RIT Capital Partners, Senator Investment Group, Alsara Investment Group.

The expansion of OneFootball services began last year, following the its acquisition of football entertainment platform Dugout, which held direct partnerships with Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real and Olympique de Marseille

 Murtaza Akbar, Managing Partner, Liberty City Ventures, added: “LCV has a long record of investing in businesses that are creating the Web3 ecosystem, and we are delighted to bring our experience and expertise to the world of football, creating unique value for fans, clubs and players alike.”

Dapper Labs, the digital collectable company behind NBA Top Shots, will build on its position as a OneFootball investor by also becoming a strategic partner for OneFootball Labs.

Dapper will provide the infrastructure and services based on the FLOW blockchain – one of the most sustainable and energy-efficient blockchain technologies – to bring real players and global stars to life in Web3.

Mik Naayem, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder, Dapper Labs, said: “We are excited to team up with OneFootball to bring the biggest sport in the world to our growing FLOW ecosystem.

“The potential of introducing more than 100 million users to relevant NFTs for the first time has the potential to be truly groundbreaking. We see this as a catalyst for mass scale Web3 adoption for the whole industry.”