Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has invested in Chrono24, the online marketplace for luxury watches, through his CR7 SA company, for an undisclosed sum.
Ronaldo, known for his love of timepieces, joins the likes of previous Chrono24 investors, including Bernard Arnault’s family investment company Aglae Ventures, General Atlantic, Insight Partners and Sprints Capital, who led Chrono24’s Series C round in August 2021, worth 118 million US dollars to solidify the marketplace’s unicorn status with a valuation today exceeding 1 billion US dollars.
Commenting on his investment, Ronaldo said in a statement: “As a long-term watch collector and regular user of Chrono24, it’s a pleasure for me to become a shareholder in the company now.
“Chrono24 unites millions of watch lovers from all around the world to share in their passion, together – that global unification is something I know well and am thrilled to be a part of.”
Tim Stracke, co-chief executive at Chrono24, added: “No one brings passion for luxury watches to the world stage quite like Cristiano. He has already solidified his place as one of the greatest athletes in history, and as an investor shows astute knowledge of world-class luxury and technology. That coupled with his authentic, proven passion for watch collecting makes him the perfect teammate as our company moves further into global expansion and our next chapter.”
Chrono24, founded in 2003, continues to be led by Stracke and co-chief executive Holger Felgner and has become the leading online marketplace for luxury watches with more than 500,000 watches from over 3,000 dealers from 100 countries and 30,000 private sellers. The marketplace offers new, pre-owned and vintage watches and has offices in Karlsruhe, Berlin, New York, Miami and Tokyo.