Sports entrepreneurs prepare for AIM listing with crowdfunding campaign
ENTREPRENEURS have launched a crowdfunding campaign for their sports management company as they plan for an AIM listing.
Sheffield company Sport:80 is looking to raise up to £700,000 on CrowdBnk, and have already raised £203,600 of its target.
The company offers a sports management platform for all sporting organisations, from international federations to individual teams.
The platform was developed over three years as a cloud-based service.
The Sport:80 management team consists of chief executive Gary Hargraves, finance director Gareth Palmer and advisors David Hadfield and Tim Haden Scott.
Mr Hargraves has an 18-year history in management, having been commercial manager at Crystal Palace FC and managing director of Brentford FC.
He said: ” Our platform allows sports federations of any size the ability to manage operations online. They have a single point of access, whether they are an international federation, athletes or national club.
“You can engage with membership, renew memberships, event entries on a validated basis,” he said.
Sport:80 was incorporated in 2012 and started trading in 2013. Mr Hargraves said that the firm has doubled revenues every year since then.
It currently counts 20 federations as clients, with 65,000 users on the platform. The company has already signed contracts which will push the user base over 100,000 which was a target for the company at the start of the year.
Sport:80 employs nine full time staff and a consultant, but further growth is on the agenda this year, with a view to an AIM listing in the not-too-distant future.
Mr Hargreaves continued: “We did a fundraise last year through our contacts. But a crowdfunding campaign was a natural place to go. We want to go for an AIM listing.
“The cost of getting on AIM is significant, but a lot of the prep work has already been done over the past 12 months.
“The stock markets are a bit unpredictable, so for now we’re staying private.”
Biding their time for optimum market conditions, the team at Sport:80 decided to give crowdfunding a go.
“CrowdBnk were switched on,” said Mr Hargraves. “There are other crowdfunding platforms but CrowdBnk aren’t your typical site.
“It seemed a good fit. We are a paperless technology company, providing a great product to the sports industry, so crowdfunding was perfect for us.”
To get involved, check out the crowdfunding campaign HERE .
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