Cincinnati founder Joshua Reid is a big believer in timing. His newest company, a pivot from the venture-backed startup he first launched four years ago, is starting to make a big splash in the sports world – landing pilots with two of Cincinnati’s professional sports teams – and now the idea is getting a big boost from a series of Ohio investors at arguably its most critical stage.
LunchTable, which looks to revolutionize fan engagement, has raised $2.4 million in seed funding led by Cleveland’s JumpStart Ventures, with participation from Cincinnati’s Cintrifuse Capital, Pittsburgh’s Black Tech Nation Ventures, Houston-based South Loop Ventures, Ohio Gateway Tech Fund, San Francisco’s Kobol Fund and angel investors.
The startup is the latest effort by Reid, a serial entrepreneur, and a rebrand of his most recent company, Inphlu, a platform that helped turn a company’s employees into brand ambassadors.
LunchTable is a similar model, except it serves as a bridge between teams and their fans – it’s the first fan activation and engagement platform, Reid said, designed to turn passive spectators into brand ambassadors. The concept is being piloted by the Cincinnati Reds and FC Cincinnati ahead of its commercial launch in the coming months.
The goal is to boost a team’s marketing and sales efforts – without requiring any ad spend.
“Everything is organic. That’s the key,” Reid told me. “These are all real, everyday people who love the sport and love the game and love their teams. We think we can 20X an advertising spend by turning those casual fans into influencers on social media.
“The raise, it validates that we’re exactly where we're supposed to be,” he added. “Raising capital, it's not that it was easy, but we had the story. It essentially sells itself. (Teams are asking), ‘why aren't we doing this?’”
Here’s how LunchTable works: During a game, a message will appear on the jumbotron, asking fans to become ambassadors. A QR code will take them to the LunchTable site to start the onboarding process.
There, they create a profile and complete a questionnaire – creating a valuable data set – while connecting to the social media platforms they want to give teams access to.
From there, they’ll be placed on a wait list – Reid said he’s using the “red velvet rope strategy” popularized by social media app and X (formerly Twitter) competitor Clubhouse.
Once a fan is approved, the team will produce content that posts automatically to the user’s feed (there is an option for account holders to approve a post before it’s published as well).
On the fan side, LunchTable is gamified. Users can collect points and rewards based on how the content performs. Prizes could range from cash to signed jerseys, exclusive events, season tickets or lunch with their favorite players.
Ambassadors can also create their own content – wearing a team’s jersey, for example, while sipping a Coca-Cola.
“Now the team has 1,000 different 10-second clips – worth millions in revenue – they can take back to their sponsor,” Reid said.
It’s a win for all – “it’s instant exposure,” he added – especially given the data piece. Reid said LunchTable is collecting information teams currently don’t have access on their fans. What’s their favorite color, their favorite superhero or favorite movie? Do they prefer bourbon or vodka? Where are they located? Where did they go to high school?
“It’s what makes us really powerful, and a potential $100 million-plus valued company,” he said. “(For a customer like) FC, it can bring more value and exposure to their sponsors: Of their 10,000 ambassadors, maybe 60% love the color pink ... and 50% love Batman. FC can say, ‘Let’s do a limited-edition Batman jersey ... and make it pink.’ Why? Because they have the data that supports it.”
Besides the Reds and FC Cincinnati, the University of Toledo is its first collegiate partner. It will use LunchTable to amplify its message across multiple media platforms.
“The University of Toledo has an exciting story to tell, featuring a world-class city, broad-based education and the amazing achievements of our student-athletes,” Bryan Blair, vice president and director of athletics, said in a statement.
The University of Cincinnati also views it as an additional tool to generate revenue and increase fan engagement, said Stanley Frazier, associate athletic director for marketing and fan engagement.
“Through LunchTable, our ability to turn our loyal fans into ambassadors will amplify our social presence and allow us to reach new fans in the process,” Frazier said.
The fundraise allows LunchTable to build out its team and refine its sales process. The startup currently has five full-time employees and is looking to add a chief technology officer, among other roles.
The goal is to sign 20 teams by March 2025.
Reid continues to have conversions locally and beyond. LunchTable recently was one of 10 companies selected by Houston’s DivInc for its spring 2024 Sports Tech Accelerator, a 12-week program backed by Rice University, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Houston-based venture capital firm Mercury, among others. It further expands the firm’s network – and comes with a $100,000 equity-free grant.
“This thing has scaled like crazy,” he said. “Every single sports team has this issue. And we have the solution.”
Reid launched Inphlu in 2020, and the company had raised $2.1 million in funding led by JumpStart, while also landing $30,000 in grant funding from Main Street Ventures. It’s working with food chain Whataburger and CareSource, among others.
He also founded the now-closed StudioCincy, a coworking and studio rental space in Eastgate, and before that, Reid launched Drivenoptics, a social media marketing agency.
LunchTable is now the sole focus. The company has set up shop in Cintrifuse’s Union Hall in Over-the-Rhine.
J.B. Kropp, Cintrifuse CEO and Cintrifuse Capital managing director, said Reid and team are securing new business “at a rate we rarely see in a startup.”
He and Reid first met in 2018, but Drivenoptics wasn’t tech-enabled or scalable – making venture a long shot. They reconnected when Inphlu was in the earliest stages of its transition to LunchTable. It was an easy yes.
“Josh is one of those entrepreneurs you meet and immediately can see he has that ‘it’ factor,” Kropp told me. “He has an incredible combination of grit, hustle,and strategic vision that has enabled him to persevere through many ups and downs and land on what he is now building. And the early signs are extremely positive. It’s clear they’re addressing a major pain point for professional sports franchises and college teams.”
