JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 17, 2021 – South African Venture Capital Firm, Seed South Capital, is thrilled to celebrate the recent and extraordinary success of its first portfolio addition, the US-based, female-led startup, myFanPark. The company is further backed by former CEOs of Activision, Intuit, and Symantec.
Seed South backed myFanPark earlier this year, after keenly identifying its ability to create and scale new revenue models for international players in the sports and entertainment industry, including creators, artists, influencers, and celebrities.
2020 was an exceptional year for myFanPark, which saw the company merge with US-based celebrity engagement platform, Starsona Inc. in December. Today, myFanPark provides an advanced solution for selling authentic fan experiences, developed in Silicon Valley and deployed around the world. Currently, myFanPark has over 3,000 in talent from 27 countries, and supports them with teams operating in the USA, South Africa and Europe.
myFanPark’s talent ranges from Springbok rugby players and Olympians, to famous chefs, comedians, actors, musicians, NBA All-Stars, Hollywood icons, and some of the most famous TikTokers on the African continent. The platform has delivered over 20,000 unique talent experiences to fans, maintained a 99.6% talent retention rate, and boasts a 21% customer return rate (5 times the industry average).
CEO of myFanPark, Joy Des Fountain, said “Creators and their fans are a large part of the future of commerce, and a creator’s ability to drive commerce is exponentially growing. As we enter our Seed+ fundraise and focus on our expansion plans, we are excited for the opportunity to move beyond one dimensional, transactional commerce to personality-rich, fun-to-engage, and hyper-personalized distribution channels where fans can engage with those they admire through our world-class technology.”
According to Seed South Capital’s Managing Partner, Sakhile Xulu, the VC firm invested in myFanPark’s vision. “The rise of the creator economy has exploded but is still in its infancy. While the success of companies such as Cameo, Patreon and Kickstarter have validated the space, we are confident in myFanPark’s vision to improve the relationship and ease of monetisation between talent and fans – especially in developing markets like Africa – through one, unified platform.”
“With skin in the game, we proved our abilities to source good deal-flow as well as the viability of our model. Which is: by helping entrepreneurs cross the first investment hurdle, we create access and good quality deal-flow for follow-on investors.”
“We are setting up our funds to invest in exceptional startups with local founders who champion African ingenuity, culture and innovation. Our investment thesis covers a diverse range of industries focused primarily on technology-driven innovation and, in addition, traditional, value-creating prospects based on authentic African Stories.”
CONTACT:
Seed South Capital | www.seedsouth.com | info@seedsouth.com
myFanPark | joy@myfanpark.com