Former Sheffield United player Sun Jihai founded Haiqiu Technology in 2016, turning his post-football plans toward sports data, youth football training and sports-related cultural industries. A 2016 company announcement reported a fundraising round described as “tens of millions,” but that does not establish Haiqiu’s revenue, profit, valuation or Sun’s personal wealth.
From Manchester City to Sheffield United
Sun joined Sheffield United in summer 2008 after six years at Manchester City, where he made 151 appearances, according to Manchester City’s retrospective, syndicated by Yahoo Sports. He spent one season at Sheffield United before returning to China.
When did Sun Jihai start Haiqiu Technology?
Haiqiu Technology says it was founded by Sun in 2016. In a 2017 interview report, GhanaSoccerNet attributed to Sun a description of the quick timeline: “I was thinking about creating the company in November 2015 and the company was formed in February 2016.” The report says the remarks were made to the Daily Star; it is a secondary account rather than a direct transcript. Read the GhanaSoccerNet report.
What does Haiqiu Technology do?
Haiqiu’s company-authored About page names three areas of focus. It also describes services for collecting, storing, analyzing and visualizing sports data.
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| Business area | What the company describes | What the available information establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Sports big data | Data collection, storage, analysis and visualization services. | The company lists this as a focus; no independent performance measures are provided. |
| Football youth training | Training and development work, including a system described for Xinjiang. | A March 2019 company page documents that initiative historically; it does not establish its current status. |
| Sports cultural industries | Named as a company focus area. | The company page does not provide comparable operating or financial results for this line. |
In a March 2019 description of its Xinjiang youth-training initiative, Haiqiu said it would contribute sports technology and data resources to the plan, including data evaluation and training resources. That account documents what the company described at the time, not whether the initiative remains active today.
What does “tens of millions” mean—and what does it not prove?
In December 2016, HQ Sports announced a funding round led by China Media Capital and described the amount as “tens of millions.” The announcement does not specify a precise currency in the surfaced claim. It is evidence of an announced investment round, not a measure of the company’s current earnings or Sun’s personal proceeds. Read HQ Sports’ announcement.
- Funding is capital raised by a company; it is not the same as sales or profit.
- Valuation is an estimate of what a company is worth at a particular time; the cited announcement does not establish a current valuation.
- Personal wealth depends on assets, liabilities and ownership interests. The available sources do not verify Sun’s net worth or the amount he personally received.
What is known about Haiqiu’s current finances?
Haiqiu’s official website, whose content surfaced with a 2023 date, continues to present sports data, youth training and sports cultural industries as areas of focus. It is a company-authored description, not audited financial reporting. The sources cited here provide no audited current revenue, profit or valuation for Haiqiu and no verified personal-net-worth figure for Sun. Headlines calling him a technology mogul should therefore not be read as proof that he “makes millions.”
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