[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
ScaleUP! KC touts revenue success stories as latest small biz cohort opens applications
Growth outcomes don’t always follow entrepreneurs’ graduation from ScaleUP! KC — sometimes they come before the game-changing, no-cost program is even complete, its leaders said. Rickey Leathers made significant strides in his business, Savvy Salon — co-owned with his wife, Lenora — while enrolled in the cohort, he said. “I successfully opened a second location…
Modern-day stress triggers make life harder; getting healthy shouldn’t add to those burdens, says KC Wellness Club
The shift to focusing on wellness instead of illness should be fun, said Heath Wessling, a former wellness expert at Cerner-turned-entrepreneur, who noted sustained growth or change is unlikely if a person is unhappy with the process. “We like to find ways to show you how it’s not a drag,” said Wessling, founder and owner…
Give them a drink, get to the real: This craft KC podcast serves entrepreneur vulnerability
Two Kansas City entrepreneurs hope to amplify the voices of local change makers by getting them behind the microphone with a drink in their hand. The Behind the Bar with Ashley and Hailee podcast sees co-hosts and friends Ashley Kendrick and Hailee Bland Walsh welcome their fellow Kansas City entrepreneurs into Kendrick’s basement for a…
A sneaky wink in each brutal piece: How one artist’s work paints his reality within a world of big, heavy events
Emerging Kansas City contemporary artist Addison “A.L.” Parrish believes that to create a work of art, he must first observe and understand the world around him. “I feel like, as an artist, my main job isn’t necessarily painting,” Parrish said. “It’s seeing and being — not detached — but in a neutral state of observation.”…