For many of the 1.1 million high school football players in the U.S., few decisions are as important as where to go to college.
With thousands of schools to choose from, and only about 10 percent of players making a college football roster, picking the right targets to try to play in the NCAA can be time consuming and unfruitful.
Craig Ridley, co-founder and CEO of Ashburn-based startup Route Analytics, says that doesn’t have to be the case.
“Most tech solutions to date are centered around video platforms for content sharing,” he told Inno. “That just increases the opportunity for exposure – what’s been missing is the data.”
Route Analytics uses data science and machine learning to help high school football players choose the best path to play in college. Using historical data and user inputs, the algorithms determine college division fit probability (i.e. FBS, FCS, DII, DIII) and university fit probability, among other key metrics.
It combines those results with predictive analytics to determine which schools users should target and track, where to send highlight videos, which camps to attend and where to build relationships.
Route launched its beta version in July last year, and after releasing an improved platform a month ago, has seen users flock to the app. Ridley said the app will have 3,000 users by the end of August, and signups are increasing 30 percent month over month.
“This wasn’t a ‘build it and see if they come.’ We did focus groups and customer interviews,” Ridley said. “And the feedback from coaches was that student athletes and parents need a realistic benchmark for where they potentially fit within college athletics.”
Those high school football coaches are the key to Route’s growth strategy. For the most part, users will only stay on the app until they get into college. But coaches get a new crop of potential recruits every year that could make use of the platform.
The full platform costs $10 per month, but offers free trials and no long-term commitments.
“That price point been part of our strategy from the outset,” Ridley said. “We want to make it affordable and look to acquire customers on a massive scale.”
The startup is currently raising capital as it looks to scale further, estimating that significant revenue will start to roll in next month. It previously took in about $100,000 in seed funding, Ridley said, and has 15 full- and part-time employees.
He said the company started with a focus on football because it was the most complex, in terms of recruiters being able to identify and evaluate the best talent. From there, Route plans to expand into track and field, soccer and other sports in need of a data-backed upgrade to their recruiting process.
