Interview with PanenkaFC#
Developer Spotlight: PanenkaFC
PanenkaFC team#
PanenkaFC is a Web3-powered fantasy football platform focused on building the most trusted and transparent fantasy gaming experience for sports fans. Unlike traditional fantasy platforms that operate as opaque systems, PanenkaFC uses blockchain infrastructure to ensure verifiable game rules, fair prize distribution, and full transparency — while keeping the user experience simple and familiar for non-crypto users.
Founded in September 2023, PanenkaFC is built by a globally distributed team of football fans and builders. The project launched its MVP early, prioritizing real user feedback over hype-driven development, and has since grown to tens of thousands of active users.
PanenkaFC is developed on the Concordium blockchain, leveraging its smart contracts, high throughput, and identity-focused features, with plans to expand into compliance-ready and privacy-preserving gameplay in future versions.
In this Developer Spotlight interview, we speak with Navneet Singhrol, founder and CEO of PanenkaFC, and Jerry Chibuokem, co-founder and CTO, as they share their journey, technical decisions, community-driven philosophy, and vision for the future of fantasy sports on blockchain.
Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about your background in technology?#
Navneet: My name is Navneet, I’m the founder and CEO of PanenkaFC. I’ve been working as a product manager for over five years, with more than four years in the Web3 space. Before PanenkaFC, I worked on different products including wallets and other Web3 systems. I don’t code myself, but I enjoy building digital products that create real value for end users. I’ve been part of several founding teams before, but this is my first time stepping into the CEO role to lead my own idea.
Jerry: I’m Jerry, CTO and co-founder of PanenkaFC. I’ve been coding for around seven years. Before this, I worked in fintech and edtech, including at Coursera. This is my first full-time role in Web3, and I’m leading the technical architecture and implementation for PanenkaFC.
How did you first get into blockchain or Web3?#
Navneet: For me, the entry point was DeFi Summer. I started exploring DeFi and it completely changed my perspective. It was difficult to grasp at first, but once I understood the concepts, I realised the scale of the opportunity. I started contributing to DAOs and gaming projects, and eventually decided to leave my Web2 job and work in Web3 full-time.
Jerry: My story is a bit different. I had read about blockchain before, but it always felt abstract to me. That changed when Navneet shared the PanenkaFC idea during an incubation program. It was the first time I saw a clear, real-world use case where blockchain actually solved a concrete problem. That’s what motivated me to get deeply involved.
What motivated you to start building on Concordium specifically?#
Navneet: We met during an accelerator program where Concordium was involved very early. When we pitched the idea, Concordium immediately understood it and supported us from day zero. Concordium provided our first grant and helped us launch our first proof of concept and incentivized testnet campaign. Since the inception of PanenkaFC, Concordium has been with us as our first believer and partner.
Could you give us a brief summary of PanenkaFC and the problem it aims to solve?#
Navneet: PanenkaFC was created to build the most trusted fantasy gaming experience for sports fans, starting with football.
Existing fantasy platforms often operate as black boxes — users don’t really know how results or payouts are calculated, and there’s little accountability. We wanted to decentralize the entire game lifecycle so that results, rules, and payouts are transparent and verifiable through smart contracts.
We achieved this with our MVP and now PanenkaFC is evolving into a live football companion that thinks, reacts and strategizes with you!
Who are you building this product for, and how has the idea evolved?#
Navneet: We’re building for football fans — people who love the sport, the banter, and the community around it. While we started with a simple MVP, the vision has evolved. We’re now working toward version one of the product, aiming to build a real-time fantasy gaming experience.
The product is evolving based on continuous user feedback, but our core audience remains football fans like ourselves.
Could you tell us a bit about your team?#
Navneet: We’re a small, fully remote team of five full-time members, plus a few contributors. The team is distributed across India, Nigeria, and Spain. Jerry leads all technical aspects, supported by backend and frontend engineers, a project manager, a designer, and a community manager.
Despite being distributed, we’ve built a strong rhythm and execution culture!
What technologies and tools are you using to build PanenkaFC?#
Jerry: Our application has three main components:
a Web2 frontend built as a single-page application with React,
a backend running on Node.js,
and the blockchain layer.
On the blockchain side, Concordium is our main chain. We initially used WalletConnect, but more recently we’ve integrated CCD aliases extensively to reduce onboarding friction and improve user experience.
How important is abstracting blockchain complexity from users?#
Jerry: It’s extremely important for us. CCD aliases allow users to benefit from blockchain features without needing to understand wallets or blockchain mechanics. Users can log in with familiar accounts, and only later — when they actually need it — do they start interacting more deeply with blockchain concepts. This has significantly reduced friction for new users.
How does your experience building on Concordium compare to other chains?#
Jerry: Concordium stands out because of its speed, throughput, and ecosystem support. Low latency is critical for a gaming product. The internal forum and developer support were especially helpful during our early days, allowing us to quickly resolve technical challenges.
What improvements would you like to see in the Concordium ecosystem?#
Jerry: One improvement would be better external documentation discoverability. An MCP server and a RAG-based chatbot for documentation would help developers integrate faster and get answers more efficiently when working with AI-assisted tools.
How do you engage with your community and grow your user base?#
Navneet: We allocate about 50% of our resources to user acquisition and community building. We focus on organic growth and word of mouth rather than paid campaigns. We’re fully bootstrapped, so grants and partnerships have been essential. We prioritize trust and long-term relationships with our community over vanity metrics.
How does PanenkaFC ensure transparency and fairness in match results and prize distribution?#
Jerry: Each game room is deployed as a smart contract on Concordium. All parameters — entry limits, prize pools, and payouts — are defined at deployment and cannot be altered. The entire game lifecycle is managed on-chain, and all player lineups and results are recorded on the blockchain. This ensures transparency and prevents manual interference.
How do you plan to handle compliance and regulatory requirements?#
Navneet: Currently, we rely on smart contracts, but with version one we plan to integrate Concordium’s identity and verification features. This will allow us to handle KYC and compliance across different jurisdictions, while eventually leveraging zero-knowledge proofs for privacy.
What advice would you give to other developers joining the Concordium ecosystem?#
Jerry: Be active in the ecosystem — use the forums, ask questions, and build something tangible. Concordium has real-world use cases, and developers should focus on solving real problems rather than chasing hype.
Navneet: I would add that builders should move away from narratives and speculation and focus on creating real value for end users. That’s what attracted us to Concordium in the first place.
Thank you for having us. We really enjoyed the conversation. We encourage everyone reading this to check out PanenkaFC, try the platform, and share honest, critical feedback. This feedback is essential for us as we continue building the next generation of fantasy gaming focused on gameplay, transparency, and the love of football.
