Como 1907 Ventures Hosts First-Ever Pitch Day

Como 1907 Ventures Hosts First-Ever Pitch Day, Showcasing Early-Stage Innovation Across Health, Climate, Mobility and the Experience Economy

Como 1907 and The Players Fund hosted the inaugural Venture Pitch Day ahead of the club’s 2-0 win over U.S. Sassuolo Calcio, watched on by Hollywood actors Chris Pine and Michael Fassbender.

Lake Como, Italy – November 28, 2025 – Como 1907 today hosted the inaugural Como 1907 Ventures Pitch Day, bringing together investors, founders and operators for an intimate exploration of new technologies spanning health, software, machine learning, climate, performance and next-generation mobility. The event marks the first public showcase of the club’s venture programme, developed in partnership with The Players Fund, the world’s largest athlete-led venture capital platform.

The morning opened with a conversation on the ambitions behind Como 1907 Ventures and how the club, together with The Players Fund, is building a model where a football team functions as a genuine venture platform rather than a traditional rights-holder.

Senior leaders from companies including Apple, Revolut, Uber and Eight Sleep watched on as founders from Connectome Health, Collecto App, Eoliann and Wayla Italia demonstrated how elite sport can act as a real-world platform for early-stage products and technologies in non-sports adjacent verticals.

Two panel sessions — Harnessing the Experience Economy and Building a Business in Health & Wellness — gave further space for additional founders, including Beautiful Destinations, Guestia, NOWATCH, and Lombardy-based Serenis and YDUN, to share insights on emerging consumer behaviour, wellness trends, and the opportunities shaping Europe’s next wave of innovation.

European technology show etn. also recorded a livestream from the villa, with hosts Ronan Chambers and Luke Knight speaking with innovators such as Alex Prokofjev (RollUpEurope), Marcel van Lohuizen (CUE Labs), Luca Ferraresi (P101), Salvatore Zola (Collecto), Marco Squarci and Dominik Vacikar (Specter).

The programme concluded with a private lakeside lunch before guests joined an exclusive VIP matchday experience for the evening’s Serie A fixture against U.S. Sassuolo Calcio — a 2–0 victory for Cesc Fàbregas’ Como 1907, watched by Hollywood actors Chris Pine and Michael Fassbender.

Andy Marston, Head of Corporate Venture at The Players Fund, commented:

“This was the first time we could give people a proper look at what we’re building with Como 1907 Ventures, so the ambition was to reflect the breadth of where a programme like this can go. The companies in the room spanned neuroscience, climate tech, mobility and collectables, reflecting how a club environment can touch far more categories than sport normally admits.

We’ve mapped specific assets the club can offer — from product testing and internal feedback loops to warm introductions to blue-chip partners. Each agreement is bespoke, designed to create a genuine win-win rather than the heavy-handed equity swaps you can sometimes see in sport. It’s early days, but today was an important step in showing what we believe this model can become.”

Ryan Shelton, Chief Revenue Officer at Como 1907, added:

“To be clear, this isn’t a branding exercise. This isn’t about ‘disruption’ for the sake of sounding different. This is about building real things, with real outcomes.

Como 1907 Ventures is a serious platform. Over time, we aim for it to become an investable, credible force in early-stage innovation. Yes, we’ll incubate ideas. But we’ll also test, refine and scale them, with the infrastructure of a rising global football club as our launchpad. This is just the beginning. Como is more than a club. It’s a home for global ambition.”

The inaugural Pitch Day reinforces Como 1907’s long-term vision to position the club at the intersection of sport, venture capital and culture — and signals how elite football can create meaningful pathways for entrepreneurship, investment and breakthrough technologies.