As the world’s most famous soccer nation, Brazil has built a reputation as a producer of soccer talent and is ranked as the world’s largest exporter of players.
Looking for the next Neymar or Vinicius junior, sports technology ventures in South America’s largest country bets that artificial intelligence plays a key role.
If the ability to easily record and upload videos to the internet already reduces the need to directly participate in scouts and training sessions, AI is to discover promising young people to the next level through machine-based analysis of data derived from smartphone clips.
Given the enormous scale and harsh inequalities in Brazil, enthusiasts believe that innovation could further break the barriers imposed by the distance and poverty of those who want to attract the attention of talent spotters.
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Choosing the country as a testing ground in 2023, Footbao is a kind of tiktok that creates an online portfolio of videos that showcase skills and traits by young hopefuls. The startup has over 100,000 players registered on the mobile app worldwide, most of which are registered in Brazil.
That AI serves as an initial filter for analysts to identify profiles that meet the specific requirements of their partner team. “This will help the club find players that match their needs more accurately. It’s all nationally and much more accurate,” says Nick Laporte, CEO of Footbao.
Brazil’s passion for sport, its vast geography and its large population of over 200mn make it the “perfect launch pad,” he adds. “We believe talent is universal, but opportunities aren’t. That’s what we want to change. Our goal is to help young athletes realize their dream of becoming professional athletes.”
Already featured in the Corinthians’ book in São Paulo, when she began using Footbao, 16-year-old Gloria Gasparini was called to the national side this year for the Under 17S Championship in South America.
“This app has brought many followers to my social network, which is essential to encourage other girls who have the same dreams as me,” she says.
Footbao says he recently dispatched five Brazilian teenagers to spend two weeks of training with Italy’s top flight side Lecce. They were selected from a 20-person nominee list and narrowed down from a pool of 2,000 applicants.
Sandro Mencucci, CEO of Apulian Club, says established scouting platforms tend to focus on current experts rather than players “on the streets.”
The fledgling company says it has raised 5.8 million euros of funding, including a seed investment following this year, following 5 million euros. Footbao, former CEO of Swiss private bank Julius Bear, founded by Italian Swiss entrepreneurs Francesco Chirinte and Boris Corraldi, said he has already generated income from premium services.
“We are increasing further revenue streams such as talent management, access to data, club predictive analytics, and sponsorship and advertising through applications and tournaments,” adds Rappolt.
Brazil is also the focus of Kuju, a financially supported app developed by the technical division of Gonn, a German athletes agency. The early version without AI was piloted in Africa almost a decade ago, Kuju says before the current format was released in Brazil last year and its mission is to “democratize” football.
Users perform a series of exercises to view skills such as dribbling and shooting, and to obtain scores. The video is uploaded to a database where AI compares players from around the world and provides insight into improvements.
“The exact same skills and exercises from Brazilian children can be compared to children from Malaysia or America’s African children. Therefore, this is pure standardization and helps club and scout life find the next talent.”
Although Kuju had not disclosed financial information, someone close to the company said they had received the initial investment of €5 million.
Both apps hold competitions in Brazil, allowing the highest ranked players to show off their skills in front of a scout. Cuju says it has 50,000 users across the country, and most of the Santa Catarina state holds tournaments.
Another aim of the initiative is to boost the development of female professionals, who tend to be less than male counterparts.
“There’s a lack of clubs that provide girls training and women’s teams. We found that Kuju can help improve their skills simply because they have access to (training),” adds Muller.
Meanwhile, Footbao wants to increase the proportion of girls on the platform from one fifth of today by 2027, hosted by Brazil.
Despite the hype about how AI can change the belt of the economy, experts point to current limitations in technology for soccer scouting.
Russell Gar, an international soccer consultant and an international scouting specialist based in Scotland, says it has the advantage of giving youth exposure a lot.
“Now, AI is really good to hear the first level filters sound,” he adds. “Then, human intervention is required at the next level.”
Lecce boss Mencucci says there are factors that can’t be explained, at least for now, such as when it comes to foreign signatures. “When choosing a player, you need to understand whether he can adapt to Italy. That’s important and unpredictable.”
The technology could also exacerbate Brazil’s concerns about the star’s escape into a rich country, in order to undermine domestic games.
Commercial testing of the app is whether it can become part of the standard scouting toolkit for major league clubs in the coming years.
