Portugal-based MyLads scores €7.6M to enable you to connect with your favourite sports club via AR; here’s how

Lisbon, Portugal-based MyLads offers sports collectables connected with Augmented Reality, letting users interact with their teams, players, and stadiums just by using their smartphones. Currently, the startup is working with known international football teams on the planet – the four mega-clubs and one national federation team including SL Benfica, Sporting CP, FC Porto, Portuguese Football Federation, and Atlético Madrid.

MyLads raises Seed funding

In a recent development, MyLads announced that it has raised €7.6M in its Seed round of funding. The round was led by Riva Technology and Entertainment (RTE), to leverage tech areas (new AR experiences and others), and attract new international clients. 

Speaking on the development, RTE CEO, Paul Roy says, “Our investment into MyLads is a strategic move that allows us to dive more into the world of Augmented Reality which is effectively powering fan engagement. Our diverse portfolio of companies is an excellent opportunity to leverage gaming, sports, fan engagement, and technology.”

Besides RTE, investors including António Félix da Costa from Formula-E World Champion, and co-founder of APEX Capital also invested in this round along with the support from Sociedade Albuquerque & Almeida Advogados.

What does MyLads offer?

The company was founded in 2020 by Dulce Guarda, Hugo Matinho, and Ivan da Silva Braz. MyLads focuses on fan engagement, by developing official collectibles linked with Augmented Reality (AR). Thereby, offering sports clubs an engagement tool to improve the relationship with their fans.

In order to do that, the startup has created LADS Collectibles, official replicas of football equipment, where football players, after installing the MyLads app, “come to life” through AR. Through the MyLads mobile app, the team offers the stadium experience using a mobile device. It allows users to engage with players, teams, locker rooms, tour buses, among others, along with exclusive content for super fans.

The startup has already launched collectibles featuring football superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, João Félix, Eusébio, and Bruno Fernandes.

Currently, MyLads has its official partners SL Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal, and the Portuguese National Football Team. To start the next season, the company is announcing official partnerships with new European Sports Clubs (FC Porto and Club Atlético de Madrid) and South American Clubs.

Speaking on the development, Ivan Braz, CEO, MyLads, says, “Fans want to feel part of the team’s family and that they matter for their idols. That’s also our belief and that’s why at MyLads, fans are the most important piece of the puzzle. This Seed Investment Round will help us tailor more experiences for the fans and create unique memories and collectibles to grow the engagement between fans and their favourite sports teams.”

Another milestone for MyLads

MyLads reports that it was one of the finalists of HYPE GVA 2.0 (HYPE Global Virtual Accelerators), a programme by HYPE Sports Innovation, where several international startups in the sports market are selected by top clubs, federations, and brands in the industry, to help market leaders to solve their specific challenges. 

According to the press release, through this programme, MyLads captured the interest of 9 international sports teams; 2 eSports teams; and 7 companies in the NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) area, which is one of the fastest growing segments in SportsTech and receives growing attention from Investors.

About HYPE Sports Innovation

HYPE claims to be a platform for sports innovation, with more than 40,000 members including startups, sports leaders, clubs, brands, investors, and mentors.

Some of the brands and institutions under HYPE’s network include FIBA, River Plate, Miami Dolphins, Bundesliga, 1. FC Köln, and Under Armour, among others. The company has also created a portfolio including more than 200 startups that graduated from its HYPE Accelerator programme, raising more than $230M (approx €193.5M) – 40 per cent of these startups have also managed to raise a second round of funding.