Sports crowdfunding site PledgeSports has raised over €80,000 on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs and is seeking a total raise of €100,000. This represents 5% equity in the young company with a pre-money valuation of €1,900,000. The Dublin, Ireland based site will use the new funding will be used for an “ambitious expansion plan”.
PledgeSports was founded by Irish entrepreneur Richard Pearson in February last year and has claimed to be “the premier sports crowdfunding company in Europe”. PledgeSports now seeks to build on its presence in the US.
Pearson explained his decision to publicly raise funds on Seedrs;
“When we decided we were ready for this expansion and began thinking about where to find investors, there was never going to be any other choice. We want the public to own shares. Rather than having one or two investors, I would like 100 different brand ambassadors who want to see this business become a global success and profit from it. We are a crowdfunding platform and believe that this is the future of all investment, whether that’s in sports on PledgeSports, or in businesses on Seedrs. It works.”
PledgeSports states it has successfully funded high-profile tennis players, Olympic hopefuls, Paralympic hopefuls, National rugby teams, local football teams, and Ironmen and women in the UK, US and in Ireland. The platform hopes to build upon its initial success and aggressively move into other complimentary areas such as products and brands.
Pearson explained that he wanted to create something that would “bring a balance to sports funding”. Today sports funding and sports sponsorship money goes “straight to the top of the food chain”. PledgeSports helps up and coming athletes fund their careers – always a challenge for unknown, but promising, athletes.
PledgeSports is a rewards based funding platform where many athletes return signed merchandise, promotion, personal lessons and more to incentivize backers.
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