Many household stars in sport have used their influence, platform and wealth to invest in UK tech companies.
From England cricket stars to Premier League footballers and the nation’s most treasured modern tennis champion, a number of world-famous athletes have invested in HealthTechs, FinTechs, sports apps and more.
BusinessCloud looks at some of the most well-known investments.
Harry Kane & John Terry
England captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane is no stranger to investing in tech firms.
The Bayern Munich striker has joined former Chelsea captain John Terry, himself a former skipper of the national team, as a backer of tickets and events sales platform Seat Unique, alongside several England cricket stars (see below).
Former Tottenham star Kane was also a participant in a £1.4m funding round for Chester-based FoodTech Bio&Me back in March 2022.
An avid golfer, Kane is also an ambassador for another firm he has invested in – sustainable sportswear brand Reflo, which specialises in golf but also caters for gym goers and runners.
Kane is also an ambassador for player tracking company STATSports, which recently unveiled ‘Apex 2.0’ – a new GPS tracker being used by coaches at a host of top sporting organisations to make players more durable including Liverpool, PSG, Arsenal, Manchester City and the England national team.
Vincent Kompany & Gary Neville
Two of Manchester’s most iconic defenders – Kane’s manager at Bayern Munich Vincent Kompany, a former captain of City, and serial entrepreneur Neville, United’s legendary right-back – put their local derby rivalries to one side when they both invested in virtual reality elite sports training startup Rezzil.
The Manchester company last year agreed a four-year licensing investment deal with the Premier League and the two worked on the launch of VR game Premier League Player.
The firm has also previously gained the backing of fellow footballing figures Thierry Henry, Michail Antonio and Tyrone Mings.
Diogo Dalot & Cristiano Ronaldo
Both current and former stars at Man Utd have invested in Bioniq, a developer of personalised nutritional supplements based on blood biomarker data.
The London-based firm received an investment in October 2024 from global phenom Cristiano Ronaldo, now captain of Saudi side Al-Nassr and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
The investment brought the company’s value up to $82m.
Ronaldo’s former United and current Portugal team-mate Diogo Dalot shortly followed suit in March 2025, investing £840,000 into the HealthTech.
In April 2025 Ronaldo and British filmmaker Matthew Vaughn launched an independent joint venture film studio which is said to embrace innovative technology, with a nod to tradition.
They financed and produced two actions together through UR•MARV. Vaughn is best-known for his work producing, writing and directing on hit film series’ including Kick Ass, X-Men and Kingsman.
Then late last year Ronaldo struck a global partnership with AI answer-engine company Perplexity. The California-based firm says Ronaldo uses the product as part of his preparation and decision-making.
To launch the tie-up, Perplexity rolled out a dedicated Ronaldo hub featuring an interactive CR7 experience, including career timelines, curated questions and exclusive imagery for fans to explore.
Rio Ferdinand
Manchester United legend and TNT Sports pundit Rio Ferdinand joined forces with Cifr.io in February 2025, a UK technology firm pioneering a groundbreaking solution to tackle the global epidemic of counterfeit football shirts.
The former England international has had a busy start to 2025 when it comes to tech, as another company which he has shares in – London-based FinTech Sokin – secured £12m debt funding from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock in late January.
Ferdinand has also previously backed platform WeAre8, an app aiming to help people to reclaim their economic power and drive real-world change.
The London-based firm, which is also backed by presenter Clare Balding, launched a campaign on the app called Blow the Whistle, aiming to take a stand against racism and empower people to unite for change.
Ferdinand himself spearheaded this with WeAre8 founder Zoe Kalar.
Patrick Bamford
In 2022 former Leeds United and England striker Patrick Bamford invested in Hylo Athletics, a startup that makes running shoes with a low carbon footprint.
The current Sheffield United star joined a Series A round of £2.5 million into London-headquartered Hylo, led by Eka Ventures, with participation from Redrice Ventures and other angel investors.
Hylo uses materials science to create running shoes that deliver high performance for athletes and low impact for the planet. The brand’s launch shoe is vegan, uses renewable materials, is recyclable and has a 52% lower carbon footprint compared with the average running shoe.
Gary Lineker
A household name in the UK for over 40 years, former England international Gary Lineker backed home insurance startup Neos in October 2016. He exited the firm on 1st January 2019.
The now-TV presenter, who will leave Match of the Day at the end of the Premier League season after 25 years as host, has also been an investor in telematics insurance company Ticker since its inception.
Raheem Sterling & Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Former Liverpool stars Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became significant investors and global ambassadors in player tracking and analysis provider STATSports.
The pair joined the Newry-based firm in 2019, where it was reported by Forbes that they had each invested over £1m.
The firm has now partnered with elite sports clubs including Arsenal and has been backed by England captain Kane.
Sterling is currently out in the cold at Chelsea, while ‘The Ox’ is currently at Turkish side Besiktas.
Mario Götze
The scorer of Germany’s winning goal in the 2014 World Cup, Mario Götze, has a multitude of investments behind him including startups in FinTech, EdTech, SportTech and more.
Still playing his trade at Eintracht Frankfurt, the five-times Bundesliga winner is an investor in London-based virtual experience brand Zenos, formerly known as Virtex Stadium.
His portfolio also includes German startups Freeverse.io (NFT living asset platform), Junto (business training courses), Knowunity (digital learning platform), PowerUs (digital careers site), Pile (cryptocurrency services), RIDE Capital (digital wealth management), ScorePlay (automated sports media management), Root Global (food and beverage data-driven software), Mietz (automated renting platform), Qualifyze (critical compliance platform), Sanity Group (cannabis) and 8returns (eCommerce returns portal).
He also backed SPRK.global, a startup which aimed to redistribute food oversupply but has now closed down.
Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas & Robin Van Persie
Three Arsenal legends teamed up in 2014 to invest in social video and mobile video advertising firm Grabyo.
The three took part in a £1.3m funding round raised by the London-based startup, which was founded in 2013 by Will Neale.
England’s cricket stars
Media and investment group 4CAST, founded by England cricketing stars Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and Jos Buttler, partnered with Seat Unique in December 2024.
Since the collaboration, London-based Seat Unique has confirmed partnerships with the London Stadium and the Utilita Bowl, as well as appointing former England rugby union star Matt Dawson as a business advisor.
4CAST specialises in athlete-driven media productions and early-stage investments, and boasts an influential roster of talent, including cricketers Ollie Pope, Liam Livingstone, KL Rahul and Matty Potts.
Andy Murray
The greatest British tennis player in recent history, former ATP world number one Andy Murray has a vested interest in a number of tech companies.
In 2016, when he was arguably at the peak of his sporting powers, he invested in pet monitoring app Dog Tracker Nano, cycle navigation app Beeline and blow LTD, a ‘beauty on demand’ service.
Two years on, he became an investor in FinTech startups Investly and Landbay, before putting money into the ‘Airbnb for tennis’ app DEUCE.
The twice Wimbledon champ has also invested in learning platform HowNow, workplace wellbeing and engagement company Titrac and digital giving platform GoodBox, which was rescued from administration via a rarely used restructuring plan in 2023. The latest twist in the saga saw an appeal for fees from administrators Frost Group dismissed by the courts in March 2025.
One of Murray’s earliest investments was into the Fuel Ventures Fund – a tech investment company founded by Mark Pearson in 2015.
