In a move that positions it to triple its headcount and cement its place in the amateur sports market, Boulder’s TeamSnap today announced a strategic partnership with private equity firm Waud Capital Partners.
The partnership brings new capital to TeamSnap and gives Waud Capital majority ownership of the company. As part of the deal, Waud Capital executive Peter Frintzilas will take over as CEO and Andrew Rueff will join TeamSnap as executive chairman
Founder and current CEO Dave DuPont will retain a financial stake in the company and remain on TeamSnap’s executive team.
TeamSnap was founded in 2009 as DuPont aimed to build a sports technology company that made sure everybody showed up at the right place, at the right time, with the right stuff. Since then, the company has expanded its offerings and built a loyal following of 25 million users.
Now, the company provides end-to-end solutions for communication, scheduling, payment collection, registration and real-time game sharing through its software platform and mobile applications.
Incoming CEO Frintzilas said the company has the opportunity to become even more for the industry.
“We cold reached out to Dave in September and laid out a vision that we believe there is an opportunity to build a single leading platform for the entire amateur sports ecosystem,” he said, pointing to facility management and sports tourism as next steps. “That’s where you see the true potential here.”
In addition to new leadership, the partnership with Waud will bring additional capital into the fold for TeamSnap. The company had previously raised $5.5 million in convertible notes financing led by Foundry Group and Bolt Ventures in May 2020.
Now, with Waud on board, Frintzilas said he expects the company to double its nearly 100 person staff by the end of 2021, with a target of 300 employees by the end of next year.
“We believe we’re exiting the pandemic in a position of strength with a lot of tailwinds behind us, with the Waud Capital partnership and a recapitalized balance sheet with a lot of investment equity still on the sidelines for us to grow organically and inorganically,” he said.
Despite the challenges it faced during the pandemic, with most sports league being cancelled, DuPont said TeamSnap was resilient and offered value throughout Covid-19.
“We were pleasantly surprised to the extent teams, clubs and organizations continued to use TeamSnap even if they weren’t in the midst of formal games and sports activities,” he said. “We still were the connective tissue of amateur sports.”
In addition to its usual product offerings, TeamSnap stepped up to provide a communication hub for amateur sports organizations during the pandemic. The company also released its Health Check product, an integrated health screening feature, which has been used more than 14 million times since launch.
And, as restrictions ease around sporting events, TeamSnap reported that its app usage and financial performance is currently above pre-pandemic levels.
With this partnership and a transition out of the top executive role, DuPont remains excited about TeamSnap’s future.
“It has been a fantastic ride over the last 12 years, and we expect it to continue to be so, at an even larger scale, over the next few.”
