A Chicago startup that wants to combine reality television with fantasy football launched its mobile app to begin the year.
Bracketoloogy launched on Jan. 17, five days before the premiere of "The Bachelor."
"Within those first five days, we saw about 25,000 downloads, and on 'Bachelor' premiere night we jumped to No. 23 on the iPhone App Store trending entertainment apps," Bracketology CEO Jonah Fialkow told Chicago Inno. "It was exciting to see ourselves above some of the staple apps out there like Eventbrite, CBS [and] Patreon."
Fialkow launched Bracketology, along with co-founders Kaitlyn Hurley and David Pawlan, to provide fantasy sports games for reality television shows.
"Essentially we're what happens when your college basketball brackets and fantasy football leagues meet 'The Bachelor,' 'Survivor,' 'Big Brother,'" he said.
Currently offering fantasy games for 10 shows, Bracketology will look to expand to 15 reality television shows, including game shows, by the end of 2024.
What first started in 2016 as a passion project among friends and a website — Bach Bracket — eventually signed up thousands of people over six years, before Fialkow got involved in 2021.
That year, he left his job to become Bracketology's first and only full-time employee. Fialkow said he plans to continue to work as a vendor at Wrigley Field this summer as he builds out the company.
Bracketology has raised $460,000 to date.
"Ultimately, the goal is to raise again, another bridge round, so that we can keep expanding the team [and] increase our bandwidth from a scoring and operation standpoint so we can continue to add new shows," Fialkow said. "Because at the moment, I am the one that sits in front of the TV with an Excel spreadsheet and watches and scores all of our reality TV shows."
