Our CEO, Marco Savino, interviewed by SportsBiz Spotlight, the series that shines a light on the fantastic organisations operating within the sports industry.
Check the full interview at https://behindsport.com/sportsbiz-spotlight-iterpro/
Tell us about the business?
Iterpro is a sports tech company that combines sports science, finance and software engineering to create a revolutionary football team management platform. Founded in London in 2018, we have been able to secure partnerships among elite teams such as AC Milan, Swiss FA, Bologna FC and Torino FC to name a few, recently expanding into the basketball industry with the Italian giant Olimpia Milano. The product has been built from the ground up, by practitioners, for practitioners, and validated by some of the best clubs in the world.
What do you do?
In a few words, Iterpro Football Intelligence is a football team management platform that connects people, integrates data from every department and turns them into actionable insights, to support clubs in making better decisions faster at all levels. It’s a one-stop shop solution in a user-friendly experience that makes it accessible to every stakeholder.
What’s the main purpose of the organisation?
The football sector is a fast-paced industry where quick-fire decisions are often required in relation to investment and management such as contract renewal, player trading, and talent development. Wage to revenue ratio generally falls between 60 to 80% meaning that players are usually the club’s main financial asset However, the general infrastructure and operating environment of the football universe are relatively archaic, relevant data does exist, but decision makers have not invested in infrastructures to process them Many critical decisions are still made based on limited information and guesswork, which can lead to less favorable results and financial losses.
Our mission is to create a sustainable digital ecosystem, through which football organisations can centralise all the strategic information, improve the information sharing with all the stakeholders, their operation workflow, and the overall decision-making.
Besides improving information sharing and workflow, the main benefits of implementing a digital solution like this are reducing injury risk, improving talent ID, and increasing financial sustainability. Furthermore, on a larger scale, digital implementation can be leveraged to develop pro leagues, youth and women’s football within regions and countries, connecting the entire football ecosystem consisting of federations, clubs, players, soccer schools, and parents.
If failure wasn’t a possibility, what would be your biggest ambition?
My dream is to serve the entire football ecosystem, with this platform being on every laptop and mobile device of every stakeholder. The question is not if it’s going to happen, but when it’s going to happen because within the next 5-10 years a system of intelligence will be a necessary tool to run a football organization of any size.
What’s your USP?
At the moment Iterpro is the only 360° management system on the market because it also covers the administration, finance, and transfer market issues. For this reason, we also change the point of view from simple “athlete management” to more advanced “asset management”, also allowing clubs’ Directors and Owners to manage their business in a data-driven approach. Besides this unique characteristic, we are by far the most user-friendly system on the market. The look and feel of the platform takes inspiration from the gaming industry (such as FIFA or Football Manager) and our user experience really differentiates us from anyone else. We are also very focused on keeping the system both intuitive and accessible to non-technical stakeholders.
How many people work at Iterpro and what capacity? I.e. job roles etc.
We have 20 people working across Europe, but at the same time, we are a very close-knit team. We have very talented and skilled developers, sports scientists, and financial analysts joining forces. In such a short time, our passion and chemistry have brought the company amongst the industry big players already well established for decades, even though we are still a startup.
Who are your usual clients?
Over the years we have mainly worked with professional football clubs and federations of all sizes across Europe, covering first teams, academies and soccer schools. Recently we have created versions for basketball and rugby, which opens very exciting doors as it means we have the function to cover any sport out there.
Who would be your dream client?
We are already working with our dream clients as we are the Official Technical Supplier of football giants AC Milan, one of the most successful clubs in history. In addition our brand ambassador is Franco Baresi, a true football legend and one of the smartest players to ever walk on a football pitch. However, at this stage of development, whilst we are still a startup, I believe that our dream clients are merely owners and directors who are forward-thinking, engaged and willing to squeeze value from our solution by using it to their maximum potential.
How can people connect with Iterpro? What’s your website and socials?
Our website is www.iterpro.com and you can also follow us on social media! We’re on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
Thanks to Marco for talking to us about Iterpro – it was fantastic to learn more about the business!
Check the full interview at https://behindsport.com/sportsbiz-spotlight-iterpro/
