SportHorses BV

What SportHorses BV does

SportHorses B.V. is a privately held Dutch limited liability company headquartered in Best, Netherlands, that operates one of Europe's largest online marketplaces for the equestrian sport sector. The company runs two flagship platforms — SportHorses.nl for the Dutch market and ForSale.Horse for international buyers and sellers — alongside an extensive network of country-specific ccTLD domains covering more than 30 countries across Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The platform connects private owners, trading stables, and breeders with international buyers of sport horses, ponies, and equestrian-related services across the disciplines of dressage, show jumping, and eventing, and has expanded adjacent categories to include horse transport and equestrian real estate ("hippisch onroerend goed"). Each listing can include photos, video, pedigree, health records, and competition results, and is automatically translated into more than 30 languages with local currency presentation, enabling cross-border transactions without a centralized payments or escrow layer.

The underlying technology stack is a self-serve web marketplace with professional listing creation tools, category-level filtering by discipline, breed, level, price, and geography, and an international SEO architecture built on local ccTLDs. The company does not maintain native mobile apps on iOS or Android and does not expose a public API or developer documentation. There is no disclosed proprietary AI/ML capability beyond automatic translation, which is most plausibly powered by third-party machine translation services. Marketing is driven primarily by organic SEO across the ccTLD network and a content/editorial blog covering breed-specific and country-specific buying guides.

Commercially, the business is monetized via a two-tier subscription model targeted at professional sellers and traders: Plus at €75/month and Premium at €125/month, with no commissions charged on transactions. Base listings are free; subscription tiers add banner placement, personal landing pages, bump-to-top visibility, weekly newsletter inclusion, and social media advertising. Revenue, ARR, GMV, funding history, and investor backing are not publicly disclosed; ownership is described as independent/bootstrapped with no identified parent company or institutional shareholders. Customer support and operational contacts route through a single generic [email protected] address, alongside partnerships with international transport providers such as Anemone Trucks B.V.

Name

SportHorses BV

Legal name

Sporthorses B.V.

Website

https://sporthorses.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SportHorses B.V. operates a 30+-country online marketplace (SportHorses.nl / ForSale.Horse) for buying and selling sport horses, ponies, and equestrian services, monetizing via two subscription tiers (Plus €75/month, Premium €125/month) targeting professional sellers and breeders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Horse Marketplace

NAICS

Sporting Goods Retailers (45911), Sporting Goods Retailers (459110)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Equine Sales, Auctions & Bloodstock Agencies (AFAEAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Equine Transport & Hauling Services (AFAEAGAI)

Keywords

• Horse marketplace
• Equestrian classifieds
• Sport horse trading
• Online horse sales
• Equestrian advertising platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Antwerp

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Two-tier subscription model targeting professional sellers and traders. Plus tier at €75/month offers banner placement in relevant categories, own landing page, free listings, placement on international sites, and no commissions. Premium tier at €125/month adds bump-to-top-15x, 7-day top advertisement, weekly newsletter, and social media advertising features.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

SportHorses BV operates an international online marketplace (SportHorses.nl / ForSale.Horse) that connects buyers and sellers of sport horses, ponies, and equestrian-related services across 30+ countries. The platform supports professional advertisements with photos, video, pedigree, health records, and competition results, and automatically translates each listing into 30+ languages on local country domains. Sellers access enhanced visibility through two monthly subscription tiers (Plus at €75/month and Premium at €125/month), with no commissions charged on transactions.

Product overview

SportHorses BV operates SportHorses.nl (Dutch market) and ForSale.Horse (international market) as a unified international online marketplace for sport horses, ponies, and equestrian services. The platform connects buyers and sellers across 30+ countries through local domain presence and automatic translation in 30+ languages. The product portfolio includes the core marketplace platform with listing management, search, and filtering capabilities, supplemented by two subscription tiers: Plus (€75/month) for professional sellers with banner placement and landing pages, and Premium (€125/month) with enhanced visibility features including bump-to-top, newsletter, and social media advertising.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SportHorses.nl / ForSale.Horse Marketplace Platform International online marketplace platform for buying and selling sport horses, ponies, horse transport, and equestrian real estate. Connects private owners, trading stables, and breeders with international buyers, with built-in translation and localized country domains.
• Plus Subscription Professional seller subscription tier priced at €75 per month, providing enhanced visibility on the SportHorses marketplace including banner placement, a personal landing page, free listings, and international placement with no transaction commissions.
• Premium Subscription Premium seller subscription tier priced at €125 per month, providing all Plus features plus bump-to-top 15 times, 7-day top advertisement placement, weekly newsletter inclusion, and social media advertising.

Quantifiable outcome

• Daily new advertisements volume enables frequent inventory refresh and buyer engagement

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• HorseClicks: North American horse marketplace with categorized listings for horses, tack, and trailers. Directly comparable as an online classifieds platform for equestrian listings with paid promotion features for sellers.
• Equine.com: Long-established US-based online horse marketplace (owned by Equine Network) listing horses for sale by breed, discipline, and region. Directly comparable as a sport horse classifieds platform serving buyers and sellers in a similar vertical.
• Wick Hill (horses.co.uk): UK-based horse classifieds platform with listings for horses, ponies, and equestrian equipment. Comparable product offering focused on British/Irish market with subscription features for sellers.
• ProEquest: Online marketplace for horses, equine real estate, and equestrian jobs primarily serving the US market. Comparable in combining horse listings with adjacent equestrian service categories (real estate, transport, jobs).
• ehorses GmbH: One of Europe's largest online horse marketplaces, based in Germany. Operates a multi-country domain network selling sport and recreation horses — directly comparable to SportHorses in product category, customer base, and subscription/listing monetization model.
• DreamHorse.com: US-based horse classifieds platform with hundreds of thousands of listings across breeds and disciplines. Directly comparable to SportHorses as a digital marketplace for sport horse sales with subscription/featured-listing monetization.

Regional players

• ChevalAnnonces: Leading French-language horse marketplace with listings for sport horses, ponies, and equestrian services. Comparable product offering (horse classifieds with seller subscriptions) but primarily serves the French-speaking market rather than SportHorses' broader pan-European footprint.
• Hipposourcing / Annonces-chevaux: French and international horse listings platform connecting buyers and sellers across Europe. Comparable as a pan-European sport horse marketplace but with a smaller geographic footprint than SportHorses' 30+ ccTLD network.

Broad incumbents

• Horse & Hound (classifieds): Iconic UK equestrian publication with a long-running horse-for-sale classifieds section. Comparable marketplace functionality (horse listings, premium placements) but operates as part of a broader equestrian media brand rather than a pure-play marketplace.

Emerging players

• Arkel International (auction platform): European digital auction platform for sport horses and breeding stock. Comparable target market (sport horse buyers/sellers) but operates a live-auction model rather than SportHorses' classifieds/subscription approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sporthorses-bv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SportHorses BV