Footium raises £450k from angel investor superstar to launch multiplayer football-management game
This article covers Footium, a gaming startup, which has closed a £450,000 strategic angel round led by former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov and launched its hard release after four years of development and live testing. The move aims to deliver a multiplayer, social football-management alternative targeting players who prefer head-to-head competition, daily live matches and seasonal rewards, and is relevant to the football-management niche and the UK games ecosystem.
Footium, a gaming startup, has closed a £450,000 strategic angel round led by former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov and launched its hard release after four years of development and live testing. The company is pitching a multiplayer, social take on football management that it says prioritises competition against real people, daily live matches and seasonal rewards — a direct response to recent turbulence around Football Manager.
Why it matters
The timing matters because the football-management niche has seen disruption: Football Manager faced criticism after FM25 was cancelled and FM26 drew negative feedback, leaving an opening for alternatives. Footium is positioning itself to capture players who want head-to-head competition, social features and frequent, season-based play rather than managing against AI.
A successful soft launch and community tests — including a sold-out release of 3,000 Footium Clubs in 2021 and more than three thousand clubs competing in month-long seasons during testing — suggest there is an active audience for this kind of multiplayer approach. The studio reports tens of thousands of competitive matches completed during playtests.
Inside the product
Footium runs real-time leagues with daily live matches, promotion and relegation, a dynamic transfer market and club progression. Seasons run monthly and the studio releases iterative feature updates after community playtests; the product roadmap emphasises social tools for content creation, player trading and rivalry building.
The game also offers cash rewards for clubs based on season performance, with those rewards funded through in-game spending. Footium says the core game was built over three years alongside more than a dozen community playtests. Andy Watson, CEO of Hutch Games — the studio behind F1 Clash and Top Drives — has joined as an advisor.
Who are the investors?
The £450,000 round was described as a strategic angel raise led by Dimitar Berbatov, the former Bulgarian striker. Footium said the round also included a roster of gaming, sports and tech operators; the studio previously raised a 2022 seed round led by BACKED VC alongside other gaming and tech investors.
In the announcement, Dimitar Berbatov, Angel investor, said:
I'm excited to back Footium because it’s the closest thing fans can get to managing a Football Club other than becoming an actual manager. Playing against real people for cash rewards brings a unique experience for football fans. See if you can beat me this season by joining my league!
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Founder perspective
Footium frames the funding and hard launch as the culmination of a multi-year build and a pathway to scaling the community-driven product. The studio highlights a timeline of iterative development, community playtests and monthly seasons that have informed the current release.
In the announcement, George Benton, Co-founder & CEO at Footium, said:
The vision for Footium has always been to build the digital world of football - Somewhere the average football fan can participate in the football ecosystem as more than just a fan, but also as a Club Owner and Manager. This funding round and support from Berbatov helps us bring that world to the masses.
The bigger picture
Footium’s approach underscores two broader trends in games and sports tech: players increasingly value multiplayer social experiences, and celebrity backers are helping early-stage studios cut through crowded markets. For the UK games ecosystem, the title is another example of a domestic studio pursuing live-service, community-driven design rather than single-player simulation.
The deal also points to ongoing appetite from gaming investors for competitive sports titles that blend social features with monetisation tied to seasonal play. As Footium moves beyond soft launch and aims to grow its player base, regulators, platforms and players will be watching how cash rewards and in-game spending are handled across jurisdictions.
This launch and angel round sit within a broader UK and European investment landscape that continues to favour nimble studios experimenting with multiplayer, live-service models and sport-adjacent experiences.
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