Imagining a society without sports activities is close to impossible. A thriving industry indeed, sports largely depend on hardcore fans, global recognition, and investments. In terms of investments, no one did global sports bigger service than Fausto Zanetton.

Turning traditional sports into fruitful investment fields, Fausto and his friend Gianluca Vialli created Tifosy, a platform that keeps all sports in the game!

Principally tackling the UK and Italian market, Tifosy allows interested investors to financially support their favorite clubs and keep them in business.

This venture is unlike any other platform out there, leveraging unique expertise to develop the most sophisticated capital solutions for club owners, managers, and sports investors.

Fully focused on the quality of sports, Fausto made the most of his professional experience and led Tifosy to rise to the industry challenges and make a game-changing impact!

The Duo Behind Tifosy

Fausto Zanetton and Gianluca Vialli first met at the London Business School. Just like Fausto, Gianluca was also passionate about sports and wanted to improve the sport he grew up with - football.

Fausto was born in Italy but grew up in Belgium. He completed his economic university studies in Belgium and spent more than 15 years working in the financial industry. Before Tifosy, Fausto spent significant time on sports. He saw that clubs were building massive digital followings through social media and later wanted to combine his passion for sports with the professional expertise he had built.

Gianluca Vialli was also born in Italy and spent most of his adult life playing football professionally in clubs like Juventus and Chelsea. After a long run, he retired and later on became a football manager. Prior to creating Tifosy, Gianluca thought about starting a designated football platform but needed the extra push to make it happen. And that's when Gianluca met Fausto, and together, the two innovators embarked on a mission to create the first and fully authorized sports platform, mainly focused on crowdfunding.

With Gianluca's glorious football career and Fausto's spotless investing capabilities - the inventors became a winning duo. Together, they knew they could create something significant and aid the world of sports tremendously by offering many clubs a great way to raise capital. The creators also wanted to design a great opportunity for fans who wanted to invest and support their favorite football clubs with their platform.

While designing their platform, Gianluca and Fausto wanted to develop a steady working concept that transformed the sports industry and brought fans closer to their favorite teams.

An Idea is Born

After years spent in the financial industry, with his primary focus on the media, technology, and sport sector in the UK and US, Fausto wanted to use his skills and create something worthwhile. He arrived at a stage in his career where he knew that he was professionally equipped and prepared to design just about any kind of platform he set his mind to.

Due to his internet sector and media experience, Fausto knew that crowdfunding platforms would become the focus within time. Building the world's leading sports platform was too good of an opportunity to pass, and Fausto intended to make the most of it.

After he met Gianluca - during a speech he held at college - the duo was set to build their platform. The two worked tirelessly to develop the concept of Tifosy, which translates to Fans, in 2014. As soon as the idea was set in stone, the third and fourth co-founders made the Tifosy team. Later on, the other co-founders Geoff Tidey and James Pollock, joined.

Geoff Tidey has over 20 years of experience in software development, and he is the Chief Technical Officer at Tifosy. James Pollock has been for more than 15 years in marketing and business strategy. He works as Chief Marketing Officer at Tifosy.

Tifosy and Beginnings

Tifosy is the first global investment sports firm with a mission to enable everyone to invest in sports.

Back in 2013, Fausto and Gianluca wanted to create a platform that would offer specialized advisory and capital raising services to professional sports clubs and enable investors worldwide to invest more in sports. Many believed that investments and sports are not the kind of business that would work, but the Tifosy team proved everyone wrong and nailed the concept from the very first try. Finally, Fausto and Gianluca founded TIfosy in 2013.

Tifosy's offering and investment platform are unique and based on a solid framework of regulatory permissions. The platform itself offers a rare and exciting opportunity for clubs, management, and owners to invest and capital raising advisory services. So, why invest?

Tifosy is the only sport-focused investment platform advisory business. With billions taking an interest in the world of sports, Tifosy comes prepared to play a suitable business game. It not only has a proven business model it also boasts a client list of top-tier clubs, a sublime financial status, and an outstanding team that keeps pushing the platform forward.

Tifosy's first pilot project launch - with Portsmouth FC - has gone global in just 62 days and raised £270,000 from fans in 34 countries. Through developing Tifosy, Fausto and Gianluca worked with more than 15 clubs in Italy and England, and they raised more than £1 million.

Tifosy Funding

Fausto and Gianluca worked on more than 15 crowdfunding campaigns worth between 10,000 to 350,000 euros and intended for small and big clubs. These campaigns were a great way for the Tifosy team to establish itself, get to know the fans better, and learn what drove them to take an interest in a specific club.

Soon, the Tifosy four realized that the fans wanted to invest in their favorite clubs through debt or equity. Fans of Fulham FC to Crystal Palace FC and other teams gathered from 75 countries to invest in the platform and support tier favorites.

For this purpose, the fans have to ask for permission from the UK financial regulator or FCA to allow them to issue debt and equity.

Initially, the process was lengthier and more delicate, but Tifosy adjusted it to fit all users and sports enthusiasts.

In 2017, Tifosy had multi-million campaigns that the team was working on and later launched them. The platform has raised a total of £5.6 million in funding. Its first funding was raised in 2017 by investor Amit Sharma, whereas the most recent funding took place in 2019 and was worth £2 million.

How Far Has Tifosy Come?

As a result of the original idea, Tifosy is growing little by little and currently has more than 4 thousand monthly visits. Currently, Tifosy has 23 employees, and it only began with two people discussing an idea that seemed crazy to everyone. Both Fausto and Gianluca have learned many lessons in the first couple of years.

Although the process of getting the license took so long, both of them didn't quit.

Tifosy continues to develop, and in February 2021, it was announced that Serie A's Inter Milan - Tim Williams would join the platform as its managing director. Today, Tim is in charge of the business's development in the United Kingdom.

The platform's initial founders, Fausto and Gianluca, did a lot more than just building a platform - they brought fans closer to clubs and found a way to keep the love for sports afloat on a global scale.

Influenced by the initiative of connecting fans, investors, and clubs in one place, Tifosy is the perfect business meets sports equation. Fausto and Gianluca created the platform as a potent tool that ensures the longevity of sports on the market - without sacrificing the game quality along the way!