Sports often brings personal and emotional experience, especially for fans who invest a lot of their time in showing support. Without proper organization with tickets and travel, it can often lead to chaos when fans want to root on a local team playing in specific tournaments.
Covering this niche is unique, but a company in Greenville, Texas managed improve on the concept. Bandwagon started in 2014 to help nurture online fanbases so they can create the perfect game day with better organization.
This means connecting people across the online landscape to create more memorable sports moments.
It's an idea that piqued the interest of startup program Capital Factory Accelerator for a mentoring program. With Bandwagon being a graduate of our Greenville Founder Institute, read on to learn more about their future.
Bandwagon's Link-Up With Capital Factory Accelerator
One of the most significant things to happen to Bandwagon since their founding is becoming a participant in Capital Factory's six month startup accelerator program. This is taking place in Austin, Texas, known for being the #1 startup city in the United States.
Through the Capital Factory program, Bandwagon has the opportunity to access a mentor network with the most significant investors and entrepreneurs in Texas. The company can also enjoy mentoring on business development and participating in various press opportunities.
Most importantly, they'll be able to enhance their cloud technology using blockchain to help sports fans better organize sporting events.
With these amazing opportunities, Bandwagon is in position to thrust themselves into a larger spotlight.
BIG news! BANDWAGON has been accepted to the @CapitalFactory accelerator in Austin, Texas! We're really excited to kick off 2018 in The Lonestar State and bring back all we learn to our company. #bandtogether #atx pic.twitter.com/mGB4d8x326
— Bandwagon Fanclub (@BandwagonTix) December 5, 2017
The Founder of Bandwagon
The CEO of Bandwagon is Harold Hughes who started the company back in 2014. His story leads to a connection to Google thanks to a mentoring program for minority startup CEOs. With Harold being Jamaican-American, his Bandwagon became one of the startups represented by Google's program in partnership with American Underground.
Google's immersion program was called "Building and Funding the Best Black Led Startups." Bandwagon's participation in this helped propel them forward thanks to one-on-one mentoring and chances to pitch their company to hundreds of investors.
It's already helped, but the vision of Harold's company is what's helping him propel the brand's mission forward. They've managed to find other investor opportunities before linking with Capital Factory.
How Bandwagon Works
Bandwagon tracks qualitative customer data for ticketed events through a proprietary blockchain database that monitors each ticket transaction. Event owners can track the economics of each ticket and stay informed of the end user who ultimately attends the event. Our core product, Stadium Identity Management Platform, is built for the sports sector, and is for pro sports organizations and college athletic departments. Stadium Identity Management helps owners identify each fan in attendance so that personalized game day experiences can be delivered.
What is the Future of Bandwagon?
This last November, Bandwagon was selected to participate in competing for a $10,000 prize in Atlanta's StartUp Runway pitch competition. While they didn't win, the fact that they were a finalist is still a significant development in the company's evolution.
Last Summer, our Founder Institute program helped Bandwagon manage to land an investment from Harry Bell, now member of their advisory board.
From this recent timeline, you can see how fast Harold continues growing his company. Despite other fan-to-fan sports marketplaces existing, the lower fees at Bandwagon gives them a major push to rise to the top. Sports fans can easily support their favorite teams, leading to a domino effect in making sports more meaningful.
Keep reading us at Founder Institute as we cover more of our successful graduates around the world.
