A Scottsdale-based golf technology company recently landed a seed round of funding to fuel its expansion into retail stores and pro shops nationwide.
Rad Golf in April closed its first $2 million seed round from undisclosed investors in the business, sports and entertainment industries.
The company, founded by entrepreneurs Peter Johnson and Drew McFarland in 2021, develops` products that gather data, measure performance and communicate with each other to improve peoples’ golf games. The company had previously said it would launch its products in August 2022 but is now finally rolling them out to consumers.
Rad Golf's products include a rangefinder, a handheld GPS device, smartwatches that track golf shots and scores, and Bluetooth speakers that broadcast distances and allow users to audibly record golf scores.
“We developed seven hardware devices and two speakers that we launched on our website,” McFarland said. “We will be releasing a product every other month through the end of the year.”
The company inked a deal with Costco to sell its products on the retailer’s website beginning in July and in select stores during the holidays, McFarland said.
Rad Golf, which has five employees and an overseas development team, will be looking to hire additional workers for customer service and marketing as it continues to scale, Johnson said.
McFarland said the company also plans to collaborate with brand partners to further its market reach.
“We don’t have a huge team, but we’re starting to move the needle,” he said.
Rad Golf gains nationwide traction
McFarland and Johnson – both avid golfers – were inspired to launch the company out of frustration for existing golf game improvement devices on the market.
“We were having to piecemeal every product and nothing worked together,” McFarland said. “We took every vertical in our space and evolved it. We built a backend platform that does the heavy lifting. We saw an opportunity to develop products that were fun and simple to use.”
McFarland and Johnson previously worked together at Phat Scooters, a company that Johnson founded and expanded into a lifestyle brand. After exiting Phat Scooters a couple of years ago, McFarland and Johnson launched Rad Golf.
The company’s products integrate to create an all-in-one system that shares data and provides insight to users — similar to the functionality of Apple’s products but specific to golf, according to Johnson.
Rad Golf has been gaining traction on social media with celebrities and influencers. Sports Illustrated is featuring Rad Golf’s products in an upcoming Father’s Day gift guide, McFarland said.
“That’s big for a startup like ours,” he said.
Rad Golf is among five finalists in the Inno Picks category for the second-annual AZ Inno Fire Awards. It’s the premier awards program for AZ Inno, the go-to source for information about Arizona's fast-track startups and innovation economy.
The Fire Awards event, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, will be held June 15 from 5-7 p.m. at Papago Golf Club, 5595 E Karsten Way.
Ultimately, Rad Golf aims to sell its products big-box stores, pro shops and PGA TOUR superstores within the coming year.
“We want to successfully launch the rest of our products and we want to hear peoples’ stories of how they are improving their golf game,” Johnson said.
