By Andy Marston, Sports Pundit
Como 1907 has launched Como Ventures, a new startup and investment platform powered by The Players Fund, the world’s largest athlete-led VC firm.
The initiative, which was revealed in an exclusive by Chris Smith at Sports Business Journal, puts the quickly developing Serie A club at the forefront of football x venture collaboration.
The platform offers early-stage startups access to Como’s brand, infrastructure, and fanbase, combined with The Players Fund’s athlete investors, capital, and operational network.
Applications are now open across six growth themes: luxury hospitality & travel, media tech, merchandising & retail, health and performance tech, mobility, and sustainability.
Founders will pitch at a November Pitch Day, with successful companies entering a 6-month activation inside the club and will be showcased to investors, brands, and media at a Demo Day.
The Players Fund will also advise Como 1907 on broader innovation strategy, with the aim of embedding a long-term venture capability inside the club.
Why It Matters:
Como 1907 is a perfect example of a club that is more than just a (very good) football team. It’s a media brand, a retailer, a logistics operator, a performance lab, a hospitality venue, and a community platform all rolled into one. It's that breadth that makes them, and other sports organisations, uniquely powerful testing grounds for startups looking to prove, refine, and scale their products.
The problem is that most innovation programs launched by clubs rarely get beyond surface-level pilots. Short-term pressures, limited in-house expertise, and weak deal flow often mean they stall before delivering meaningful value.
Como Ventures is designed to break that pattern.
By combining Como 1907’s cultural reach and infrastructure with The Players Fund’s
athlete capital and venture expertise, the platform moves beyond sponsorship dressed up as innovation. It’s about genuine co-creation: startups gain validation and scale, while the club shares in the upside. With media rights flattening and clubs searching for new revenue streams, this represents a (potentially) more sustainable growth path.
With my personal bias acknowledged, Como’s approach (with full credit to the likes of Ryan Shelton, Mirwan Suwarso, Francesco Terrazzani and Mo Dabbah) feels like a glimpse of the next era of football business, with clubs operating less like rights-sellers and more like platforms for innovation.
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