Eyeball, a trailblazing sports tech company transforming how professional football clubs scout and recruit young talent, today announced the successful closure of a €5 million seed funding round. Led by Vendep Capital, with participation from Sportlogiq, Heartland, and Founderment, this investment comes just nine months after the company’s pre-seed round, marking its rapid growth and rising prominence in the global football industry.

Operating in 27 countries, Eyeball is already utilised by over 100 top football clubs worldwide, including the majority of Premier League and Ligue One teams, as well as over 50% of clubs in the German Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A.

The new capital will drive Eyeball’s expansion into key U.S. and Latin American markets and bolster its technology capabilities. Built on full-match video analysis, the platform combines AI-powered computer vision, data analytics, and video insights to offer clubs a comprehensive view of emerging talent across multiple regions and continents.

By digitising the scouting process, Eyeball enables clubs to discover talent from under-represented regions, identifying future football stars earlier than ever before. The platform has been praised for enhancing both the accuracy and efficiency of player evaluation.

“We’ve seen a three-fold increase in revenue in 2024, and this latest funding round is a strong validation of our vision to redefine how talent is scouted across the globe, by top clubs,” said Manfred Lerley, CEO and Co-founder of Eyeball. “We are empowering clubs to access a broader talent pool with data-driven insights that were previously unavailable.

“Our technology is providing players opportunities to reach the professional game that was previously unattainable, democratising the entire scouting process from a club and player perspective. This capital will enable us to push even further and help uncover the stars of the future,” continues Lerley.

Jupe Arala, the General Partner at Vendep Capital, commented, “Since meeting the founders at Eyeball, we have been incredibly excited about the opportunity. With the peak transfer value of football players shifting to a younger age, there’s a growing demand for advanced scouting tools in youth academies, and we believe the Eyeball team is perfectly positioned to address that need.”

“Eyeball is well on its way to achieving category dominance by creating a high-quality, reliable infrastructure that enhances talent discovery for top football clubs. We are eager to see more players and clubs reaping the benefits of this innovative platform to analyse matches, elevate talent discovery, and embrace a more data-driven approach in this ever-competitive field,” continues Arala.

About Eyeball

Eyeball is a B2B SaaS sports tech company dedicated to revolutionising the football talent recruitment process. By digitising scouting through AI and data analytics, Eyeball.Club helps clubs worldwide identify and recruit top talent. With partnerships across 100+ clubs and national federations, Eyeball.Club is setting the standard for the future of football scouting.