Berlin. Frankfurt The Berlin football fan app One Football is replacing its boss in the midst of a crisis. Founder Lucas von Cranach turns his back on the company after 15 years and hands over the leadership to the previous co-boss Patrick Fischer. It was “time to move on,” Cranach explained on the career platform LinkedIn over the weekend. But as an investor, he wants to stay on board.
According to people familiar with the company and the investors, Cranach is said to have been pushed to take this step in order to clear the way for the necessary restructuring and a debt reduction. There was no information about Cranach’s departure on the company’s website. A spokeswoman confirmed the change at the top of the company on Monday, but would not comment on further details. Von Cranach also did not give any reasons for the withdrawal.
According to people familiar with the situation, One Football is said to be in talks with football leagues and clubs about a deferment of outstanding claims. One Football had acquired media rights for broadcasts of football matches, for example, but had not paid in full.
One Football has already cut staff twice
The DFL alone is to be involved in an amount of about 60 million euros, which One Football would have to pay for international media rights. Other leagues and top clubs are also said to have high outstanding balances. One Football did not want to comment on this. There is a three-quarter reduction in open items in the room, said two people familiar with the matter. The DFL declined to comment.
The company is going through a difficult time. To reduce costs, it has already cut jobs twice – last December and in March. In total, more than 200 employees had to leave the company. As of March, One Football still had 320 employees.
Cranach’s departure is not the first recruitment this year: in February, former Puma CEO Franz Koch, who was responsible for the operative business for several years, left.
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In view of the acute financing crisis for start-ups, it should be difficult for One Football to inspire new investors. The investor network of the start-up is complex. In numerous deals, donors for media rights received shares in the company. For example, football clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have been among the shareholders for some time, according to One Football.
The DFB is also involved. In 2021, the sports association announced: “It’s about getting closer to the fans and addressing them in a more targeted way.“ The venture capitalists Lakestar and Earlybird are also among the investors. Both donors did not want to comment on the changes at the top of the company.
The last time there was money was in April 2022
In April 2022, the company had collected money for the last time. At that time, $ 300 million was raised. During this financing round, One Football also became the so-called Unicorn, i.e. a company valued at more than one billion dollars. Among others, Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, DAH and RIT Capital Partners were involved.
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Von Cranach wanted to use the capital to expand and expand the streaming offer. Among other things, so-called “non–fungible tokens” (NFTs) – a kind of proof of ownership for digital objects – were announced in cooperation with Bundesliga organizer DFL.
According to One Football, there are now more than 150 million monthly active users who inform themselves about scores and statistics, read football news or watch video clips. The company can draw on content from more than 150 clubs and leagues. In the meantime, hundreds of millions of posts have been created in 16 languages. One Football has also entered into a cooperation with the sports streaming service Dazn.
Cranach has always advertised that One Football is aimed directly at the fans and offers them new opportunities to experience the world’s most popular ball sport in the media. The company has not yet answered questions about how well money can be earned with this user interest.
The descendant of the famous Renaissance painter is himself a fan of 1. FC Köln. In his youth, he watched every match of his club at the stadium. Because he did not like the football sites on the Internet, he founded the predecessor company of One Football in 2008, it was called “iLiga”. The first funder for the sports portal came from Bochum, so the business economist first moved to the Ruhr area. The offices were there for free. Shortly after, Cranach moved to Berlin.
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