South African Venture Capital Firm, Seed South Capital, has announced its investment into US-based, female-led startup, myFanPark to help the firm to create and scale new revenue models for international players in the sports and entertainment industry, including creators, artists, influencers, and celebrities.
myFanPark , which is also backed by former CEOs of Activision, Intuit, and Symantec connects fans to their favorite celebrities. It allows talent to offer video shoutouts, direct messages, social media interactions, fun items, live calls, customized merchandise, and commercial requests.
In a statement, 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.”
Last year, myFanPark merged with US-based celebrity engagement platform, Starsona Inc and now provides an advanced solution for selling authentic fan experiences across the world. Today, myFanPark has over 3,000 in talent from 27 countries, and supports them with teams operating in the USA, South Africa and Europe.
Some of myFanPark’s talent include Springbok rugby players and Olympians, 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).
“The rise of the creator economy has exploded but is still in its infancy,” said Seed South Capital’s Managing Partner, Sakhile Xulu. “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.”
Xulu adds that with skin in the game, Seed South Capital is helping entrepreneurs cross the first investment hurdle then 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,” concluded Xulu.
