[Updated] Fantasy football analytics startup launches hilarious crowdfunding campaign
August 12, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Kansas City-based Edge Up Sports launched a crowdfunding campaign Wednesday to support its platform providing fantasy football players insight on their picks.
With CEO Ilya Tabakh in full pads, Edge Up’s Kickstarter campaign video tackles the playful aspects of fantasy football — trash-talking, devastating losses and rowdy fans — to appeal to would-be backers. The company is eyeing $35,000 to support the build of its analytics platform, which taps high-tech services such as IBM Watson.
As of Aug. 17 — or five days after launching its campaign — Edge Up Sports reached its goal. The company’s campaign has exceeded $38,800.
“We want to help you completely blow out your fantasy league,” Tabakh said. “We clean up all these disconnected and disparate data sources by using techniques to put that information into context for things that matter to fantasy players. … We want to tailor our tools around making fantasy football fun again and find ways to allow users to talk smack in a more interesting way and ultimately be competitive in their league.”
In addition to using IBM Watson, Edge Up’s platform looks at variables such as a user’s team, player statistics, matchups that week and even the weather. It also will pull data from social media interactions, analyst write-ups, news stories and more. By offering such information, the company hopes to snag part of a nearly half-billion dollar pie.
About 57 million Americans and Canadians will play in fantasy leagues this year, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. That massive group will spend around $465 million on fantasy games
Serving as an assistant coach to fantasy players, Edge Up Sports hopes to appeal to some of the estimated 10 million casual users with its mobile platform. The company plans to charge $22 for Edge Up’s basic platform, or $55 for its “cognitive tier.” The cognitive tier uses IBM Watson technology to process a wide sampling of data available around the NFL to help users make informed picks. It also will look at trends over a set period of weeks.
The company is now in the business incubator Digital Sandbox KC, which awarded it a $25,000 grant. Additionally, Edge Up also has secured $30,000 in funding, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also has received loads of press for its platform, including WIRED, Fast Company and the Kansas City Star.
Check out the company’s Kickstarter campaign and video here.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC tech innovators deliver mindset and personal development advice
For many, starting a business may sound like the dream — being your own boss, making your own rules and devising your own schedule. But the reality is that the entrepreneurial life isn’t all sunshine and roses. Like most good things in life, it comes with risk and challenges. And on Wednesday a panel of…
Darcy Howe’s hustle grows, guides KCRise Fund in first year
Kansas City may not realize its good fortune with the tenacious manager of a relatively new fund that’s investing in early-stage firms. Self-described as a builder that’s competitive and impatient, Darcy Howe is weaving her years of determined leadership into the KCRise Fund, which just wrapped up its first year with $14 million in the…
Deadlines approach for BetaBlox, EY awards; LaunchKC opening soon
Kansas City abounds with growth opportunities for startups and entrepreneurs — sometimes the trick is just finding them. To that end, here are a variety of opportunities for founders and supporters of Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem whose deadlines are approaching. Thanks to our friends at KCSourceLink for aggregating these opportunities! BetaBlox Deadline: March 1 Kansas City-based accelerator…
Melissa Roberts: How an Olathe hate crime affects your tech business
Editor’s note: The opinions in this commentary are the author’s alone. In the startup world, outside the Facebook echo chamber, it can be hard to see how political trends impact your business. I understand why. When you’re struggling to weed through the constant churn of working the problem, identifying a new problem and working that…