£9m to professionalise grassroots football back office using payments and attendance tracking
This article covers TeamFeePay, a Belfast‑founded startup that has closed a £9m growth funding round led by YFM Equity Partners to accelerate expansion across the UK, enter European markets and hire 75 new staff over the next two years. The funding will support product development for its platform used by grassroots football clubs to manage administration, fixtures and attendance, and to professionalise back‑office operations for volunteers and coaches.
Belfast-based sports technology company TeamFeePay has closed a £9m growth funding round to accelerate expansion across the UK and into Europe and to fund product development and hiring. The round will support a recruitment drive of 75 roles over two years and aims to deepen the company’s foothold with grassroots football clubs.
Why it matters
The deal highlights continued investor interest in tech-enabled businesses that serve community sport and club administration. TeamFeePay says it already supports more than 1,500 clubs and almost 300,000 users; improving the efficiency of routine administration could free volunteer coaches to focus more on coaching and development.
For Northern Ireland in particular, the investment underlines the role of targeted public funds and regional investors in filling a known funding gap. The Investment Fund for Northern Ireland (IFNI), backed by the British Business Bank, is explicitly designed to channel capital into growing local businesses.
Inside the product
TeamFeePay provides a software platform for grassroots football clubs and coaches to plan fixtures, training sessions and events, track attendance and manage administrative tasks such as fee collection. The product targets the operational side of club management rather than performance analytics or on-pitch coaching tools, positioning itself as an administrative backbone for clubs of varying sizes.
The company says the new funding will be used to accelerate UK growth, enable further expansion into Europe and support new product development — including hires in sales, marketing and product development to support that roadmap.
Who are the investors?
The £9m round was led by a £4.5m investment from YFM Equity Partners and a £3m equity investment from the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland (IFNI), which is managed by Clarendon Fund Managers. The round also includes £800,000 from Techstart and £700,000 from private investors.
IFNI is a £70m programme launched by the British Business Bank to tackle a regional funding gap; Clarendon manages IFNI’s £40m equity fund. YFM is positioned as an investor in tech-enabled small and medium-sized businesses across the UK.
In the announcement, Mike Clarke, Partner at YFM Equity Partners, said:
We are excited to make this £4.5m growth investment into TeamFeePay, to help an innovative company scale and move into new markets while enhancing the service it offers to existing customers. This investment is further evidence of YFM’s commitment to supporting ambitious businesses in Northern Ireland. YFM has a strong track record of investment in tech-enabled SMEs with high growth potential in all regions of the UK and we look forward to supporting TeamFeePay.
In the announcement, Stuart Gaffikin, Investment Director at Clarendon Fund Managers, said:
We’re delighted to continue backing TeamFeePay with funding from the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland as they enter an exciting new phase of growth. This investment will help Liam and his team to expand into new markets and scale the business internationally. TeamFeePay has built a strong, mission-driven team with a deep commitment to grassroots sport, and we are confident they will continue to develop innovative solutions that help clubs of all sizes across the UK, Ireland and beyond to thrive.
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Founder perspective
Liam McStravick, CEO and Co-Founder of TeamFeePay, founded the business in 2021 after two decades of grassroots coaching at clubs including Cliftonville, Linfield and Ballyclare, where he identified administrative burdens that took time away from coaching. The company highlights recognition in the Deloitte Fast 50 as a marker of growth.
In the announcement, Liam McStravick, CEO and Co-Founder of TeamFeePay, said:
It is fantastic to have new investors coming on board to help us on our mission to transform the business end of grassroots football across the UK, Ireland and across Europe by offering a better way to reduce administration and increase club income. Over the next two years we will be putting more boots on the ground, investing in new technology and continuing to improve the service and club development support our expert team provides.
We’ve been recognised as one of Ireland’s fastest growing companies in the Deloitte Fast 50 and as we look forward to TeamFeePay’s next phase of growth I’d like to thank our people, investors, shareholders and customers for supporting us as we’ve developed unique software that is helping empower clubs to thrive on and off the pitch.
The bigger picture
The funding sits at the intersection of regional economic development and a broader trend of investors backing operational software for niche markets. For investors such as YFM and IFNI, the attraction is a product that serves a large, fragmented market — grassroots clubs across the UK, Ireland and Europe — and a route to build recurring revenue through subscriptions and club services.
The planned hiring push and European expansion will test the portability of a club administrative platform across different countries’ league structures and volunteer models. How effectively TeamFeePay adapts the product and commercial model abroad will determine whether this round delivers the growth investors expect.
This transaction also underlines continuing emphasis from public programmes such as IFNI and the British Business Bank on directing capital to regional businesses; the result may be increased capacity for other startups in Northern Ireland and neighbouring regions to reach the scale needed for wider European growth.
They've invested in TeamFeePay
Get to know these healthtech investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 YFM Equity Partners | 14 investments investments | 1 contact contact | |||
 Investment Fund for Northern Ireland (IFNI) | 1 investment investment | more info | |||
 Clarendon Fund Managers | 9 investments investments | 7 contacts contacts | |||
 Techstart Ventures (Techstart) | 11 investments investments | 7 contacts contacts |
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