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By Justin Byers
The sports card craze isn’t slowing down.
Loupe Tech, Inc., a trading card e-commerce platform with a streaming component, has secured $3 million in funding.
The platform’s first funding round was led by Upfront Ventures, which also recently invested in memorabilia trading app Rally.
Entrepreneur and rare card collector Nat Turner also got in on the action. Turner is fresh off the purchase of third-party authentication company Collectors Universe, announced last week.
Loupe’s platform, which launched in October, offers users the ability to seamlessly buy and sell sports cards. Its tech also allows card enthusiasts to livestream “box breaking,” a growing trend in which a seller opens a buyer’s card on video.
The trend is a key reason why sports cards are back in style.
“Demand for sports cards has skyrocketed over the past 12 months and it’s clear the hobby wasn’t prepared for the surge in buyers,” Loupe founder and CEO Eric Doty said in a release. “Our mission is simple: We want to bring modern technology to the card collecting hobby.”
With the investment, the company plans to “aggressively hire,” sign “high-profile sellers,” and ink “strategic partnerships in the pro sports space.”
After a monumental 2020, the investment in Loupe is another promising sign for the sports card industry.
