Tech firm pulls in £500,000 from investors to win new fans

Alasdair (left) and Michael (centre) Crawley set up Fanbase in 2019, pictured with new CTO Carl (right) Barton.

STEWART ATWOOD

Scottish technology firm Fanbase has secured £500,000 of funding from high-profile investors including Bob Skinstad, a former rugby union international for South Africa.

Fanbase, set up by brothers Alasdair and Michael Crawley in 2019, offers sports clubs mobile ticketing, membership and subscriptions services, as well as content for fans.

With the seed funding, the brothers plan to expand Fanbase across the UK and into the lucrative US sports market. They aim to diversify from football to cover a range of sports, including rugby, netball and cricket.

The news of Skinstad getting on board as an investor and adviser comes as the British & Irish Lions prepare for their tour of South Africa. Other new investors include Steve Pankhurst and Tim Ward, who were at Friends Reunited; and Nick Telson and Andrew Webster, who were behind nightlife comparison site Design My Night. John Davis, who has held senior positions in media groups including Pearson, and Ronnie Forbes, a mobile tech entrepreneur, are also putting money into the business.

Fanbase wants to increase the number of football clubs on its platform from 40 to 300 across the UK by 2023. The platform, branded for each club, is designed to make digital technology available to organisations that have not previously been able to afford it. Scottish clubs on board include Newtongrange Star, Carnoustie Panmure, Linlithgow Rose and Elgin City. 

Alasdair Crawley, chief executive of Fanbase, said the Idea for the business came about when he and his brother were involved with rugby clubs in Edinburgh and spotted gaps in fan engagement. He added that Fanbase had focused on lower-league football clubs but that this had paved the way for conversations with top-tier teams, Clubs are charged a commission on sales and the Alasdair Crawley, chief aim is that Fanbase will also generate advertising revenue, which it will share with clients.

Crawley added: "It's also our ambition to make an impression in the North American sports market. We've got good links to some of the soccer, basketball and college football teams over there, so we very much see that as being part of our next phase of growth." He will remain in his role as a director at management consultancy Optima Partners while developing Fanbase. Michael Crawley has left a senior product manager role at global payments group PayPal to focus on the business.

The seed investment round has allowed Fanbase to hire a full-time team, including Carl Barton who joins as chief technology officer. The firm has a staff of six people and is hiring developers. It is moving to a  new office in Edinburgh and creating the Fanbase Academy to offer paid internships to students in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Investor Nick Telson said: "The way sports teams currently digitise, understand and grow the value of their fanbase is stuck in the 1990s. We see this as a huge opportunity across the globe and up to the highest echelons of sport."