DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Icon Source, a digital marketplace that connects aspiring brands with athletes, closed a $1.6 million seed round. The funding will support the company’s expansion as it adds to its sales team, enhances its digital platform and prepares to begin facilitating deals for college athletes on July 1, 2021.
Participants in the round included both previous and new investors, including Hawke Ventures. With the NIL compensation laws going into effect, 2021 will be a significant year in sports. As the only platform to offer college athletes a place to connect directly with brands as well as facilitate revenue-generating marketing deals, while meeting NCAA and university compliance protocols, Icon Source is uniquely positioned to dominate the college athlete endorsement space.
“We were overwhelmed by the interest we received this round,” says Chase Garrett, founder and CEO of Icon Source. “Given the significant changes taking place this year with NIL laws, we made the decision to postpone our Series A round for another year and capped our funding. We’re incredibly confident with our platform and position as the leader in the athlete marketing industry and are excited to expand our capabilities into the college level.”
Harnessing technology to disrupt the sports marketing world by making it accessible to companies of all sizes, Icon Source has redefined the relationship between athletes and brands by providing expert strategy and production services along with its unique, on-demand marketplace platform. With global to hyper-local opportunities, Icon Source allows brands to execute engagements from short-term and time sensitive to full scale activations across all channels.
“The global sports sponsorship market is a $48.5B industry that is currently limited to the top 1% of companies, agencies and athletes. This disparity will only be elevated once college athletes have the opportunity to be compensated fairly,” adds Garrett. “There’s a tremendous market out there for brands to connect with athletes seamlessly and affordably, and we’re the only single source marketplace equipped to handle deals from start to finish.”
Icon Source is the first of its kind marketplace that connects brands and athletes with efficient workflow, clear conversations and simple preloaded contracts. Leveraging technology, the company’s mobile application and AI-powered platform pairs athletes and brands based on social audience demographics, as well as the ability to run organic searches based on schedule, demographics, sports and personal interests.
About Icon Source
Icon Source is a digital marketplace that brings agents, athletes and brands together. The Denver-based startup is the only platform that provides brands of all sizes direct communication with agents, eliminating unnecessary intermediate steps to engage with a professional athlete. Its proprietary AI technology pairs athletes and brands based on social audience demographics. For additional information and to create a free account, visit www.iconsource.com.