StellarAlgo raises $16.5M to develop fan data cloud plaform

News & Media

Nov 12, 2021

StellarAlgo

In the News

  • StellarAlgo has more than 85 customers in sport and entertainment
  • Funds will drive product development and business expansion
  • New investors include founder of Bleacher Report

Canadian sports tech startup StellarAlgo has raised US$16.5 million in additional funding, allowing it to continue development of its cloud-based customer data platform (CDP) and double its workforce over the next 12 months.

The Series A round was led by Carallas Holdings with other investors including Bleacher Report founder Dave Finocchio and Newbound VC. They join existing shareholders Accelerate Fund II, Bluesky Equities and Intergen Capital, and bring the total raised by the Calgary-based firm since it was founded in 2016 to US$19 million.

StellarAlgo offers data-driven sales, marketing, and analytics tools to sports and live event providers so they can better monetise their audiences across the complete fan lifecycle. The CDP combines various data sources, including ticketing, email, demographics, merchandise, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to understand and predict various fan behaviours.

The platform is powered by machine learning algorithms trained by 40 billion data points and 100 million unique fan profiles. The company says this allows customers to develop fan-centric approaches to connect and engage with fans with a degree of personalisation that is unprecedented within the industry.

Essentially, StellarAlgo believes it offers a way to drive revenues more efficiently than traditional methods over an extended period of time. It says these benefits can be realised at any stage of digital transformation and regardless of the quality of data that a customer has at its disposal.

The additional funding will see StellarAlgo open new headquarters in both North America and Europe, and build and consolidate its customer base. The company will also invest in its product portfolio and plans to hire staff in various fields, including data engineering, customer success, product development, sales, and marketing.

“This funding represents a major milestone for our company and will significantly advance the industry’s ability to monetise fanbases through digital channels,” said Vincent Ircandia, founder and chief executive at StellarAlgo. “Sports and live audience organisations around the world are grappling with a rapidly evolving fan, and we make it possible for these properties – and their partners – to connect with and convert the world’s most passionate audiences.”

The technology is already used by more than 85 organisations, including Major League Baseball’s (MLB) New York Yankees, the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks, the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Los Angeles Kings, and the US Open tennis Grand Slam.

StellarAlgo says the platform has proved so invaluable to these organisations that its service was profitable even in 2020 – the year when Covid-19 saw the postponement or cancellation of many live events, or at least stopped fans from attending.

“StellarAlgo is positioned to disrupt business operations for sports organisations worldwide,” said Paul Gallagher, head of investments at Carallas Holdings. “We were very impressed with the company’s progress which has come thanks to a highly-effective management team and an unrivalled, state-of-the-art technology platform. This progress has solidified StellarAlgo’s first-mover advantage – our organisation is excited to help facilitate the next stage of the company’s development.”

“Engagement and connection are at the heart of what every fan wants from their favourite team – no one makes this relationship more central to how properties interact with their fanbase than StellarAlgo,” added Finocchio. “This is a company that’s poised to disrupt the sports tech space with advanced technology that every organisation in the sports ecosystem should salivate over.”

More fans.

Better Engagement.

Stellar Results.

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