Banbotoysthe startup dedicated to the manufacture and distribution of licensed figures of the main world soccer teams, successfully closes an investment round of 400,000 euros. East amount will be allocated entirely to the strategic promotion of the company and with which expects to accelerate national and international growth.
The new injection, completely closed to family and friends (family & friends), It will also be used to improve e-commerce, the acquisition of new licenses, customer service, and to increase the workforce thus promoting a new sales and marketing strategy, which allows Banbotoys reach new markets such as Asia or America.
After closing agreements with the top five Premier League clubs (Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea Football Club, Tottenham and Arsenal), the Catalan company expects to incorporate new equipment throughout 2023, that are added to the already existing exclusive licenses for the manufacture of figures of the FC Barcelona, Real Betis, Valencia CF, America Club, Chivas, Cougars Y Tigers.
A passion called football
Banbotoys was born as a result of the fusion of love for football, and sport in general, with the business vision of an entrepreneur. In this sense, one of the founding partners of the startup, Miquel Barti, maintains: “As a soccer fan and a family man, we wanted to achieve the toy with which we would have liked to enjoy as children and with which our children would have a great time. That is why since 2016 we have been analyzing different possibilities. Since then, dolls and figures from half the world have passed through our hands and we realized that if something was missing from these pieces, it was realism and quality.”.
This made Banbotoys set out in 2017 to create the most realistic animation figure on the market, the socks. “It had to be similar enough to players like Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo so that it would not only win over the little ones, but also his parents. Quality, for this, is inexcusable and, from then on, we saw how a new line of dolls was born: articulated figures, made by hand, with fabrics and details that change every season”, explains Miquel Barti.
Given the success with the Sockers, “we decided to expand the product portfolio and in 2022 we have launched the minixPVC figures of 7 and 12 cm, of the main soccer players in the world, that we manufacture under license and that we sell through our e-commerce and the main international distributors”, maintains the co-founder of Banbotoys.
Unlike other products on the market, sales are not concentrated in the Christmas campaign and are constant throughout the year. However, the company focuses its efforts on two main moments: at the beginning of each new season And when the time of the figurines for the Easter cakes.
“Collecting these figures is today a passion shared by many people, above all, lovers of the world of football, since they can have their idols in a beautiful figure on their desk or shelf, to the point of becoming collectors of them. Also, revives the illusion of children and revives that of the elderly to feel part of a club and have in their lineups the best players in the world regardless of their team”, maintains Miquel Barti.