From hockey dreams to building LinkedIn for athletes

Graet, a global platform aimed at young athletes, is quickly making a name for itself. Combining the functionalities of LinkedIn and Patreon, the app has already reached 40,000 monthly active users—all without any marketing investment. The platform recently secured a second round of funding from Miton, amounting to €600,000.

Graet, which has been up and running for just six months, tackles the challenge athletes face in presenting themselves. There is no LinkedIn tailored to the sports world—let alone one that allows athletes to gain direct support from fans, similar to how Patreon supports creators. The strong interest in Graet and the platform's rapid growth underscore its ability to meet the real needs of young athletes.

Without any investment in marketing, Graet has achieved impressive growth in its first six months, with 13,000 athletes creating profiles on the platform and 40,000 active monthly users. Czech users now make up a clear minority; the largest user base currently comes from Canada and Finland, with the United States seeing the fastest growth. After its initial launch, Graet primarily focused on hockey players, but the platform is designed for athletes across all sports who want to build their fan communities or attract the attention of sports agents. The team plans to gradually expand its focus to include other sports. 

“The biggest surprise for us was the response from players’ agents, which confirmed we’re heading in the right direction. For instance, even during our pilot phase, one of Canada’s largest sports agencies, representing over 150 young hockey players, joined Graet. We impressed them so much that their COO decided to join the Graet team, taking charge of growing and developing the platform specifically in the direction of sports agencies,” says Kroni Hope, the founder of the project, with a smile.

Before its official launch, Graet secured €340,000 in funding from investors, including Budeto, Kaya, and Miton. Following its promising start, Miton increased its stake in November with an additional €600,000 investment. Tomáš Matějček, a partner at Miton, will oversee Graet’s development. Tomáš also manages portfolio companies like Rossum, Rohlík, and Sense Arena. He was impressed by Graet’s traction and retention across all relevant markets and the strong interest from the professional sports community, particularly in the United States. This interest underscores the accuracy of the thesis that this sector is significantly under-digitalized.

Kroni Hope’s decision to move to the United States, specifically to San Francisco, where he is currently developing his project, highlights Graet's global ambitions.

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