Could Promotion-Relegation work in College Football?
Trace, which uses advanced technology to film sporting events, recently announced that it raised $47 million in a Series C funding round. The company has reached $65.2 million in total funding.
The round was led by Pelion Venture Partners and also included Toba Capital, Lakestar, and NextGen VP.
The new capital will be used for hiring more employees, improving the product, and dipping into new sports.
- Trace, which is available for soccer, baseball, and softball, utilizes GPS sensors and a wide-angle camera to not only record games, but also compile performance metrics.
- CEO David Lokshin said the product can “deliver personalized moments to each player without any additional work from anyone on your team.”
- The brand has been used by more than 1.4 million athletes, according to Lokshin.
Between 2021 and 2026, one study suggested the sports technology market would increase from $17.9 billion to $40.2 billion.
Industry Boom
Trace is tapping into an extremely lucrative sector of the sports industry: youth sports.
A study estimated that in 2019, the U.S. market was worth $19.2 billion — and that it could balloon to more than $77 billion by 2026.
While those numbers were charted before the pandemic temporarily halted the industry, the market is likely beginning a comeback.
