Campus Ink, a custom apparel platform for college students and athletes, announced it has closed a $2 million funding round. The round was led by Scrum Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, with participation from Clover Capital, Illini Angels, and, amongst others early investors who followed on such as Mark Cuban, Lightbank, West Suburban Angels, High Street Equity Partners, Connetic-Ventures and Irish Angels.
This new round brings Campus Ink’s total funding raised to $4 million at a valuation double its previous investment round.
Campus Ink also garnered support with an investment from Renee Montgomery, a two-time All-American at the University of Connecticut and two-time WNBA Champion, turned broadcaster & entrepreneur. The partnership with Montgomery is harmonious with the accelerated growth of Campus Ink’s NIL Store brand.
The NIL Store empowers college athletes to engage with their community of fans and monetize their brand through officially licensed apparel and jerseys. The NIL Store quickly gained traction among players, universities, and fans alike through elevated designs, higher payout models, and a hyper-local approach to marketing.
“Campus Ink’s student-athlete driven mission was one of the main reasons I chose to invest,” said Montgomery. “The NIL Store has already surpassed the 1 million mark on money paid out to athletes and that number is growing rapidly. From athlete to C-Suite, athletes are business minded and I love the concept of players being the CEO of their NIL. Success is a mindset.”
The NIL Store Network currently boasts 9000+ athletes across 57 schools. The funds raised will primarily fuel the brand’s rapid expansion and support the launch of another 40+ schools in 2024, while also advancing technology to enhance athlete engagement. This includes upgrading the website experience for NIL Store customers and introducing a cutting-edge athlete platform for seamless onboarding, payment and opportunity tracking, and enhanced collaboration.
“As colleges and universities continue to lean into NIL, Campus Ink is the connective tissue across multiple stakeholders.” said Mike Proman, Managing Director & Partner at Scrum Ventures. “Not only have they built a dynamic business that spans the country, but they have done so by creating trust and credibility with student-athletes through a model that can’t be replicated. As part of this new funding round, we look forward to working closely with the Campus Ink team to accelerate their college and university footprint and help additional athletes realize incremental monetization opportunities.”
Built on the foundation of putting collegiate athletes first, the NIL Store recently celebrated a major milestone of over $1 million paid out in revenue shares to student-athletes. With distribution online and in retailers like Follett, Scheels, Dicks Sporting Goods, and Fanatics, this latest round of funding, positions Campus Ink to expand its reach and impact in elevating the standard of the NIL landscape.
“Our team is thrilled to have the support of Scrum Ventures and all our investors as we continue to disrupt the collegiate apparel space,” said Steven Farag, CEO of Campus Ink. “This funding will enable us to scale operations, enhance our technology platform, and establish our presence in new markets, ultimately empowering more students and college athletes in meaningful ways.”
This press release was originally published via Campus Ink.
Read more about Campus Ink’s journey with DTF printing in our Shop Profiles spotlight.
