Raphaël Varane, the 2018 world champion and finalist of the last 2022 World Cup, pillar of the French defense, announced that he was ending his international career in Blue. Aged only 29, this decision may seem surprising, but he has an idea in his head and wants to launch into entrepreneurship… Focus on the new ambitions of a world champion!
Varane: the end of a decade in Blue
After Steve Mandanda and Hugo Lloris, it is now Raphaël Varane’s turn to hang up his boots with the French team. At only 29 years old and no less than 93 caps, the iconic Blues defender announced on his Instagram account that he was ending his career: “Representing our magnificent country for a decade was one of the greatest honors of my life (…) Every time I wore this special blue jersey, I felt immense pride. The duty to give everything, to play with my heart and to win every time we entered the field. I have been thinking about it for several months and have decided that it is the right time for me to retire internationally. »
In 10 years, Raphaël Varane will have allowed the EDF to return to the roof of the world, the vice-captain will have notably allowed his team to reach the European Cup final once, once in the World Cup final and it will have allowed the Blues to win a Nations League and a World Cup. However, the Manchester United defender intends to stay on the field for a while longer to help his team return to the top of the English championship.
Raphaël Varane and entrepreneurship
Like his former teammate Blaise Matuidi, Raphaël Varane will also focus part of his time on one of his new passions, entrepreneurship. The newspaper Les Echos recently reported that the current Manchester defender has invested in different startups. Indeed, the former number 4 of the blues has invested in Kobi, a young company which aims to help individuals as well as employees to take up sport. He also took a stake in the connected health startup, Kinvent.
Raphaël Varane invests in Kobi
Raphaël Varane invested in the startup Kobi (formerly GoMyPartner). This has just announced fundraising of 3 million euros from business angels. This fundraising aims to democratize access to sport. For good reason, this startup tends to develop a solution to finance the sporting activities of individuals thanks to partnerships or via companies which wish to encourage their employees to practice sport.
Thanks to his investment, Raphaël Varane became one of the main shareholders of Kobi. Additionally, he will serve on the startup’s board of directors and is committed to representing it to the general public. “ I don’t want to just put tickets in the box and come back in 10 years to see what happened. I really want to get involved in the project to make it known, share my experience as an athlete and help employees progress. “, he explained.
Raphaël Varane’s other investments
The 2018 world champion has also invested in the startup Kinvent, of which he is himself a regular client. Indeed, this biomechanical analysis startup allows physiotherapists as well as physical trainers to better evaluate the progress of their patients.
The native of Lille considers that high-level sport and the world of entrepreneurship have many similarities. Moreover, as he explains “ this allows you to open up to other worlds (…), and in wealth management, it is important to diversify. We know that at the end of a sporting career, income can stop overnight. »
