FIFA world Cup

WATCHING THE FIFA WORLD CUP IN THE U.S. VERSUS GERMANY

After four years of drought, the time has finally come again: The FIFA World Cup is back. Even though Germany didn’t showcase its best performance in the first game against Mexico, I do have high hopes for the team.

While I was living in Germany, I never was a really big soccer fan, nor did I have a favorite team I rooted for. But when it was time for the European and World Cup, I did a whole 180 and turned into a soccer maniac– including dressing up with accessories and attending public viewings.

One might think that I am a major bandwagon, and I have no problem to admit that. But before you judge me, I would love to explain my reasoning behind my transformation: I just love the energy that is going on during a World Cup. It feels like the whole country becomes a union where everyone is welcomed and we celebrate together as a team.

The Football App, a mobile app created by the Berlin-based company motain GmbH, received $7 million in funding from New York City’s Union Square Ventures on Thursday, making it possible to add additional social features ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Since launching in 2008, The Football App has made it possible for football (soccer in the US) fans to stay up-to-date with their favorite teams with “comprehensive features such as live-scores and commentaries, tables, statistics, news and videos.” The app has been downloaded over 10 million times, with 3 million of those downloads happening in the last 3 months alone.

Union Square Ventures’ investment follows a previous round of fundraising totaling $13 million from locale German investors, including Earlybird Venture Capital of Berlin.

Lucas von Cranach, founder and CEO of The Football App and motain,said the new round of funding will be used to “continue to develop social aspects of the platform and bolster the company’s already rapid international growth.” Part of the app’s social strategy can already be seen with a recent update that added the “Fan Zone”, a social media tie-in for live games.

Increasing the social aspect of The Football App is where Union Square Ventures comes into play. The venture capital firm has seen great success in backing social media companies, such as Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare, and should be able to provide the insight needed for increasing the social aspects of The Football App.

With the 2014 World Cup just around the corner, von Cranach is eager to get his app just right before the worldwide event. His goal is “to double our user base after the 2014 World Cup by tapping into the 350 million people across the world who use their mobile devices to consume all things football.”

Berlin has been proving itself to be a hot spot for tech startups in recent years, and has seen a combined $87.1 million in venture capital funding in the first half of this year alone. The $7 million in capital that The Football App has just received from Union Square Ventures only adds to Berlin’s growing reputation.

The app is available as a free download for iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Windows, and Samsung Smart TV’s.

Source: The Football App
Via: Techcrunch, NYTimes

Article Source: GermanPulse

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