Fifteen years in football data.Now it works for the player.
Andrei Butnaraș, founder of 1st Touch. I built and ran the production centres behind InStat and Wyscout. Since 2020 I have been personal advisor and data analyst to Mircea Lucescu, at Dynamo Kyiv and with the Romania national team, and since May 2026 to Gheorghe Hagi.
Matches analysed
People managed at peak
Years in football data
How I got here
//The story
I started on the production side. From 2011 to 2015 I built and ran InStat's data production centre and scaled it to 150 people. From 2015 the work continued in partnership with Wyscout, the world leader in football tagging; the team peaked at 180 people in December 2023. Twelve years spent making the numbers rather than buying them, which is why I know when they lie.
Since 2020 I have worked beside Mircea Lucescu, at Dynamo Kyiv and then with the Romania national team, and since May 2026 with Gheorghe Hagi. Every club I have worked with had analysis on every match. The players themselves almost never saw it.
In 2026 I founded 1st Touch to change that: a start-up that gives professional players the means to get the most out of their careers.
Why I built 1st Touch.
The analysis clubs pay for, made for the player.
I spent twelve years building the production side of InStat and Wyscout.
I know how the numbers are made, which is exactly why I know when they lie.
Clubs and national teams have had this analysis for years. Most players go a whole season without seeing their own game analysed properly.
1st Touch fixes that: every match, for every player, at the standard clubs and national teams use.
Our analysts watch the match live and tag every touch. After full time, the stats and clips are already on the player's phone.
The data belongs to the player. It is never sold, and never shared with anyone unless the player chooses to.
//The CV
Fifteen years on one page.The rest is a conversation.
If you play, coach, or want to build 1st Touch with us, write to me directly. I read every message myself.
