Helsinki-based sportstech startup Sponssa is acquired by Sponsoo, the marketplace for sports sponsorship in Germany. They both shared the same focus over the years and now are joining the forces to connect sponsors with thousands of athletes and clubs of more than 300 different sports. The Finnish startup will be covering the advising role and provides services to the clients via Founder of Sponssa Tiina Güttler‘s new projects. With this acquisition, Sponsoo will expand on a global base and Finnish serial entrepreneur Ilkka O. Lavas will be part of Sponsoo as an investor.
Sponsoo takes over Finnish sponsorship marketplace Sponssa
Exit for Finnish sports tech startup Sponssa: Less than three years after being founded, the Helsinki-based sponsorship marketplace got acquired by their German counterpart Sponsoo, who continue to accelerate their international expansion.
(Hamburg, July 2022) Two startups, one mission: Both Sponsoo and Sponssa started with the goal to help athletes and teams find additional sponsorships. Now they join forces, as Sponsoo is taking over their Finnish peers. For Sponsoo, the takeover is part of a larger effort to build the most relevant sports sponsorship marketplace not just in Germany, but globally.
“We’ve been looking for a smart opportunity to grow in the Nordics already for a while”, says Sponsoo’s founder Andreas Kitzing. “The takeover brings us a big step forward, and helps us consolidate our leading position in Europe.”
Both companies are passionate about sports, data-driven and hungry for growth. In a market environment where size actually matters, sponsors on Sponsoo profit from also having access to a wide range of Finnish athletes and sports clubs. Already now, Sponsoo has more than 15,000 sponsorship rights holders in their portfolio, ranging from the “team next door” or amateur athletes to Champions League clubs, elite eSports teams, large sports influencers or Olympic champions.
Sponssa founder Tiina Güttler is excited: “We are pleased to refer Finnish athletes and sponsors to Sponsoo as they can expect excellent service from the Sponsoo team. Sponsoo shares our mission to create opportunities for athletes and visibility for companies. I am confident that the acquisition will enable Sponsoo to do great things for the Finnish sports community in the future,”
The Sponssa team will initially remain in an advising role and as the Finnish contact. Tiina Güttler is already innovating new projects within her company that also created Sponssa, Frostypeak Oy. Additionally, the Frostypeak team manages UX and website design projects for their clients.
Sponsoo’s ambition in the Finnish market is also supported from the investor side: Parallel to the takeover of Sponssa, the well-connected Finnish serial entrepreneur and investor Ilkka O. Lavas is joining Sponsoo as an investor, and already started leveraging his network to kickstart Sponsoo in the Nordics.
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