In an April 2023 exclusive, France's Le Figaro reported that 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema had joined Trendex as both investor and ambassador — his first investment in tech.
The piece framed Trendex as a Franco-American startup, founded in 2021, building a new kind of talent platform: instead of company shares, fans could back the image rights of athletes and entertainers. At the time the company reported 150+ talents under contract — including NBA All-Star Rudy Gobert and footballer Renato Sanches — each signed to multi-year image-rights deals.
Le Figaro noted Trendex's traction (tens of thousands of users, strong monthly growth) and quoted CEO Andrea Bonapersona on the mission of letting fans support athletes' careers while redistributing value back to the talents themselves.
It established Trendex, in a French paper of record, as a credible, fast-growing company with real, contracted relationships with world-class athletes — the same relationships that now power trendex.agency's brand partnerships.
Key facts
- 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema: investor + ambassador
- 150+ athletes under image-rights contract at the time
- Named talents incl. Rudy Gobert & Renato Sanches
- Franco-American startup, founded 2021