Toca Football, Inc., a Costa Mesa, CA-based soccer experience company, raised approximately $100m in Series F funding.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its global growth by investing in new technologies, upgrading its TOCA Soccer training centers, and opening additional soccer-themed TOCA Social entertainment venues.
Backers included
- Jim Kavanaugh, founder and CEO of World Wide Technology (WWT) and co-owner of the professional soccer team St. Louis CITY SC, and members of his leadership team;
- Bill Anderson, former chairman and CEO of Anderson Holdings, founder of First Beverage Group, and founder of June Street Capital;
- Jared Smith, co-founder of Qualtrics;
- chess grandmaster and soccer enthusiast Magnus Carlsen; and
- existing investor and England Men’s National Team captain Harry Kane.
Founded in 2016 by two-time U.S. World Cup and former MLS and English Premier League midfielder Eddie Lewis, and led by CEO Yoshi Maruyama, a seasoned leader in the leisure industry, Toca is a soccer experience company that operates two primary businesses:
- TOCA Soccer, a large operator of tech-enabled soccer training centers in North America with 39 locations, and
- TOCA Social, a soccer-themed entertainment and dining venues, currently operating in London and Birmingham.
The company raised additional funds for the construction of its first U.S. Toca Social entertainment venue. Toca, in partnership with Major League Soccer (MLS), recently announced plans to open their Texas-based venue at The Colony’s Grandscape, in advance of the 2026 World Cup. Toca Social currently operates at London’s The O2 and Birmingham’s Bullring & Grand Central. Earlier this year, the company also announced a partnership with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield to open social venues in Continental Europe and its first franchise deal in Mexico with Ventura Entertainment. These venues are planned to open in London, Paris, and Monterrey in 2025.
