As if we haven't had enough good news from the sports community this week, Techstars Boston alumnus Fancred announced Wednesday they have successfully closed a $1.5 million seed round lead by Atlas Venture, Militello Capital and Star Power Partners. Angels Bob Mason, Elisabeth Bentel Carpenter, Adam Berrey and Linda Pizzuti Henry, wife of Red Sox owner John Henry, also participated in the round.
Fancred, which is headquartered in Kendall Square, said the funding will be used to expand the app's user base, further extend the platform and establish new partnerships.
“Our investors believe in and share our vision to create a new experience for sports fans,” said Hossein Kash Razzaghi, CEO and co-founder of Fancred, in this morning's announcement. “We believe that fans care as much about their sports community as they do their favorite teams. Because our members use their real names, the conversations and content shared within the community lead to a better experience for all, which include teams, media and brands."
Fancred launched in May and is a free iPhone app for the ultimate sports fan. The app hosts a mobile community that allows users to share their sports content, access commentary and engage with other fans in meaningful conversations. Members of the community include expert commentators, team spokespeople and teams themselves. The platform has a scoring system based on an algorithm that gives each member an engagement score between one and 100.
"Fancred has quickly established itself as a very compelling second screen experience when watching your team," said Ryan Moore, partner at Atlas Venture, in the release. "Even more compelling is the community we've built around your favorite sports, your favorite teams. With over 30 percent daily active usage, our members are more engaged with Fancred than any other social networking application."
Clearly, Fancred is grabbing the attention of the national sports community. NESN, the Red Sox and Razzaghi's alma mater, Mississippi State University, are all early adopters the platform. Even Big Papi himself shared the stage with Razzaghi on Techstars' Demo Day in May.
If you haven't checked out Fancred yet, you couldn't ask for a better time to join the conversation.
