Former Williams Formula 1 test driver and Le Mans winner Alex Lynn has invested £100,000 into Pacer, a new sport-focused social app dubbed "Sports Tinder," ahead of its launch in London this year, City AM reported.

Pacer will target Londoners who run, play tennis and padel and socialise through sport. "Unlike conventional dating apps," the company told City AM, "users do not initially sign up looking for romance. Instead, they find people who share their passion for sport – with the potential for friendship, community or something more."

The app was founded by Dylan Morris-Jones, a former associate at Ardian, the Paris-headquartered private investment firm.

Lynn, a class winner at the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans who continues to race for Cadillac in the FIA World Endurance Championship, said: "Sport has always been one of the best ways to meet people. You spend time together, you push each other and you naturally build a connection.

"When you're living in a city like London, there are so many people around you, but it can still be surprisingly difficult to meet people you genuinely have something in common with.

"Pacer makes that first step much easier. You might join because you want someone to train with, but if you meet someone you really click with, who knows where that can lead?"

Pacer launch follows jump in social sport

The app arrives as interest in social sport jumps in London, with the capital's players often teaming up with one another – often without ever meeting – to share padel court time.

Padel has been among Britain's fastest-growing sports since the Lawn Tennis Association took over its governance in 2019, with the LTA tracking rapid growth in both players and courts, while grassroots run clubs have become popular social fixtures across the capital.

Morris-Jones added: "London is an incredible city, but it can also be incredibly lonely. You can have thousands of people around you every day and still struggle to make genuine connections.

"Sport changes that because you immediately have something in common. The primary purpose of the app is to find your sporting community. But if two people meet through sport and it develops into friendship, or something romantic, then that's a natural consequence of putting compatible people together."

Pacer's London launch will be the first test of whether that demand can translate into an app-based sporting community, in a consumer market where established dating platforms, friendship features such as Bumble BFF and newer social services already compete for users seeking connection.