Tallinn-based Scorestars, a basketball fan engagement platform, announced that it has secured €725K in a Seed round of funding.
The investment was led by Trind VC, Startup Wise Guys, 3 Comma Capital, and Estonian angel investors.
Scorestars will use the funds for marketing campaigns and talent acquisition as the Estonian company aims to be the go-to second screen for sports fans.
Marek Kesküll, CEO of Scorestars says, “We are delighted to announce the closing of the Seed round! It means that our work in the sports community is recognised not only by the sports organisations and fans but also from outside.”
“Sports fandom is rapidly growing, and we believe there’s a massive opportunity to engage the younger generation in a new, more thrilling way,” adds Kesküll.
Advancing space for fan-athlete interaction
Founded in 2020 by Samuel V., Marek Kesküll and Martin Lond, Scorestars is a platform for sports fans.
It allows fans to collect digital cards of their favourite athletes and participate in a fantasy game with weekly, monthly, and seasonal prizes, including VIP experiences, PlayStations, and iPhones.
Upon sign-up, users receive digital cards and can collect more by playing the fantasy game. Users act as team managers, selecting favourite athletes for the virtual basketball court, with scores automatically translated into leaderboards based on real-life performances.
The company has inked multi-year partnerships with Turkish, Israeli, Lithuanian, and Basketball Champions League.
Scorestars, currently focused on European basketball leagues, plan to see the platform being also used by other sports fans. The company generates revenue by letting users win and sell bonus cards on the marketplace.
With 300,000 game plays and 2,000 transactions by European basketball fans, most users are currently males aged 18 to 28. However, the platform, growing at 4000 per cent yearly, anticipates an increasing trend of female sports followers joining.
Investors supporting Scorestars
Ivar Siimar, Partner at Trind Ventures says, “We met the founders for the first time when the company was in the idea stage, and since then, they have achieved milestone after milestone.”
“Without any outside funding, the founders managed to attract a great team and build a strong community around Scorestars. We are eager to see the founders crushing their next goals.”
Trind Ventures is a seed-stage venture fund with a focus on consumer and community startups. Its offices are located in Tallinn, Helsinki, and Munich.
Cristobal Alonso, CEO at Startup Wise Guys, who invested €150K together with 3 Comma Capital, says, “Myself and Alexa met Marek more than a year ago in Tallinn after Dag mentioned that if it was basketball you need to talk to Cristobal.”
“We felt they were into something big. His progress, persistence, and the web3 layers have made Scorestars an exciting investment from SWG side together with 3 Comma.”
Pedro Cerdeira, partner at 3 Comma Capital adds, “We are delighted to welcome Scorestars in our joint web3 programme with Startup Wise Guys. It is clear from the beginning that Scorestars has everything that is needed to be extremely successful!”