Who hasn't collected trading cards at some point in their life? Beyond being a fetish for big collectors, trading cards have also been part of the childhood of many Barcelona residents and Catalans. Sant Antoni market is still filled, every weekend, with young people and adults willing to exchange, sell, and buy cards of their favorite players. However, technology advances in all sectors and, frankly, it's not surprising that it has also crept into this one. Collectibol is born with the desire to maintain this collecting spirit of young people and combines the passion for football and trading cards into an interactive and unique experience that has already captivated more than 300,000 users from 180 countries around the world; And all from Barcelona.
"Collectibol was born almost by mistake," explains Nicolás Benhamou, CEO and founder of the company in a conversation with The New Barcelona Post. Together with Oriol Carbonell and Raúl Miguel Pérez, in May 2025 they launched this football trading card collection application. It all stemmed from conversations they had had with Futbol Club Barcelona to create a space for them in the metaverse to share with fans. In fact, Benhamou states that this is one of the clubs' pending subjects: "Beyond going to see them at matches, fans don't feel close to the club," says the entrepreneur. Barça's solution that never quite materialized was a way to get closer to the fans, and when the three young men turned their initial idea into Collectibol, Barça didn't hesitate. Since then, there are already more than a dozen teams and their portfolio continues to grow.
The operation of Collectibol is "very simple," according to its CEO. The user only has to download a free application. What's more, the entire experience can be free for the user, although there are also some paid add-ons. Once inside the platform, there is the possibility of choosing the album one wants to start. There is one for each club and within that club there are subdivisions: men's football, women's, crests, stadiums... All customers have the right to open a free pack every day, but if that's not enough, they can also pay for more cards. The goal is to complete the entire collection, as they subsequently receive a physical reward. In parallel, during the season, users can also receive physical gifts, such as cards signed by their favorite players.
A tool to get closer to fans
Collectibol was born from football clubs' desire to be closer to their fans. In this way, clubs pay a subscription to be part of the company. For now, the user profile on the platform ranges from 15 to 35 years old. According to Benhamou, this indicates that there is increasing interest in the more collector-oriented part of the application, beyond the simple children's game of getting all the stickers for the album. In fact, he himself assures that "there is already a resale market for our cards on platforms like Wallapop." And precisely this trend makes them think they can aim high: "We want to be the reference company in this sector in the world of sport," says the entrepreneur, who assures that they will not stop at football, but intend to expand to other sports.
A social movement
It is clear that Collectibol sought to replace those paper collections from Panini, but until now there was a factor they had left out: sticker exchange. In this sense, players could receive duplicate cards, but exchange was not implemented. With the start of this new season, the company is developing an internal marketplace that will allow fans to exchange duplicate cards to complete their collections, replicating one of the historical dynamics of physical collecting without incorporating monetary buying and selling between users.
Thus, the platform seeks to be much closer to the public and personalize each of the users' experiences. For example, customers already have their own profiles from which they can display their favorite cards, follow other collectors, and check their activity. These profiles can be customized using avatars, frames, and banners linked to the visual identity of each club. The application also incorporates reactions to cards, user rankings, and a discovery space that allows consulting some of the most outstanding pack openings and cards in the community, including 3D 360-degree visualization. In parallel, some player cards incorporate variable statistics that are updated according to the real performance of the footballer in each match, thanks to the integration with Sofascore, the Croatian sports technology company, based in Zagreb, which offers a live sports results and statistics application and website.
In short, with twenty employees, 40 million cards, and about to close a new investment round to maintain the company's growth, Collectibol positions itself as one of the great leaders of the new era of sticker albums. Far behind are the big magazines and the impossible sticker packs. The Barcelona-based company arrives to move the entire sector into the technological realm, with a similar experience, more gaming possibilities, and a great connection with football clubs.