Today, Chrono24, one of the world’s leading online marketplaces for luxury watches, announced that football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo (through CR7 SA) has become an investor in the company. “CR7” as he is known throughout the football world is actually also quite known amongst the watch lover community for being one of the most avid personal collectors of timepieces.
Chrono24 was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. Cristiano Ronaldo joins the likes of previous Chrono24 investors including Bernard Arnault’s family investment company, Aglae Ventures, General Atlantic, Insight Partners and Sprints Capital – who together led Chrono24’s Series C round in August 2021, worth €100 million and solidifying the watch market’s unicorn status with a valuation today exceeding $1 billion.
It is reported in Forbes’ recent Highest Paid Athletes of 2023 report that Ronaldo pulled in $136 million last year alone from his contracts with the UK’s Manchester United and Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr as well as endorsements – and all-time high for a football player. He was equally recognized for being the most marketable Athlete of 2022 by SportsPro.
Cristiano Ronaldo commented: “As a long-term watch collector and regular user of Chrono24, it’s a pleasure for me to become a shareholder in the company now. Chrono24 unites millions of watch lovers from all around the world to share in their passion, together – that global unification is something I know well and am thrilled to be a part of.”
Chrono24 CEO Tim Stracke stated: “No one brings passion for luxury watches to the world stage quite like Cristiano. He has already solidified his place as one of the greatest athletes in history, and as an investor shows astute knowledge of world-class luxury and technology. That coupled with his authentic, proven passion for watch collecting makes him the perfect teammate as our company moves further into global expansion and our next chapter.”
Since the company’s establishment in 2003, Chrono24 has led the way in the digital marketplace space. A known disruptor in the luxury watch world, Chrono24 has played a pioneering role in the change of how people shop for luxury watches, offering accessibility, transparency, and connectivity to enthusiasts that spans the entire world.
With over 530,000 watches from more than 3,000 dealers from over 120 countries and over 30,000 private sellers, the portal reaches more than nine million unique visitors per month. With a large combined global offering of new, pre-owned and vintage watches, Chrono24 offers a comprehensive service portfolio that enables buyers and sellers to complete their transactions in a trusted environment. Today, Chrono24 employs more than 500 people in its offices in Karlsruhe, Berlin, New York, Miami and Tokyo and more.
Chrono24 continues to be led by its founder and Co-CEO Tim-Stracke and Co-CEO (and former TeamViewer CEO) Holger Felgner. A majority of existing shareholders co-invested alongside the new group of investors. The CR7 SA investment follows Chrono24’s aforementioned Series C round, as well as its 2019 Series B financing of €43 million from Sprints Capital, former Richemont director Gianni Serazzi, and YOOX-NET-A-PORTER founder Alberto Grignolo, among others, as well as the company’s €37 million Series A from Insight Partners in 2015.
