• Luscid secures over $1m funding to revolutionise the global sports and entertainment sponsorship industry 
• The platform utilises 500,000 historic and live partnerships from the last 15 years, analysed across 80 countries

London, UK, 18 July 2024: Luscid, a software platform that helps brands deploy sponsorship and marketing budgets through data-driven insights, has secured $1.2 million (£1 million) in seed funding. The round was led by prominent angel investors including key figures from the sports, entertainment and technology world, such as Craig Pollard, who has spent over a decade driving the success of Apple’s products and partnerships in the UK. Already working with key brands like Accor, Santander and Binance, the funding will be used to further develop Luscid’s proprietary technology and support market expansion as the business grows at pace. 

The $100 billion sport and entertainment sponsorship industry has historically relied on personal relations and gut instinct when deploying sponsorship budgets. This approach results in opaque decision-making that is inefficient from both a time and commercial perspective. Luscid is addressing this major flaw in the industry by empowering brands to make data-driven sponsorship decisions. The platform eliminates the guesswork, allowing brands to identify the most effective partnerships and find measurable outcomes from their investments.  

Luscid is the largest global dataset for the sponsorship industry and utilises 500,000 historic and live partnerships from the last 15 years, analysed across 80 countries. It covers 88 sponsorship genres across soccer, rugby, cycling, cricket and esports. This includes partnerships with federations, teams, leagues, events, and talent across sports and broader entertainment. 

Harry Coe, CEO and Co-Founder of Luscid said: “If you understand the interests of your customers and the best methods to communicate with them through those interests, combined with a pinpoint understanding of exactly which partnerships your marketing budget will allow you to create and which of those opportunities mirror the beliefs that you as a business want to project to the world, then you have the foundations of successful sponsorship. 

Luscid does all these things more accurately and efficiently than any other software on the planet. 

The support of the investor group for this round of fundraising is incredibly important, as the expertise each and every one provides measures far beyond their financial support. This investment will allow us to continue to grow apace, further developing our platform and expanding our global reach.”

Damien Gillman, CSO and Co-founder of Luscid said: “Having been in the sponsorship industry for over 20 years, I’ve seen firsthand how an unhealthy reliance on personal relationships and gut feeling leaves too much room for error and inefficiency. Compared to other marketing channels, the sponsorship space has been left behind, with data and analytics not playing a key part in the decision-making process. Our platform allows brands to identify partnerships that are most likely to resonate with their target audience, achieve their objectives and protect brand reputation and values.” 

Stuart Wareman, Global SVP Experiences, Events & Sponsorships at Accor said: “Using data to make more informed decisions about our long-term approach to sponsorship is important. Having an aggregated view of all data into a single source that is tailored to a specific audience, market or segment is incredibly valuable.”

Garry Dodds, Founder and Managing Director of WeAreFearless said: “As an agency that has always advocated for backed-up, evidence-led strategic decisions in sponsorship, we have enthusiastically embraced this platform. Luscid has elevated the property identification part of our offering by guaranteeing an objective, robust, data-led methodology that is unparalleled in the industry. All powered by technology, and overlaid with our decades of experience, this combination means we can arrive at the right partner solution quicker, saving our clients time and money. The sponsorship industry is about to be revolutionised by what Luscid is offering to support agencies and clients to make the right decisions.”

About Luscid 

Launched in 2022, Luscid has created a software platform that helps brands deploy sponsorship and marketing budgets through data-driven insights. Passionate about driving positive change by leveraging the power of data and technology, Luscid delivers an agnostic solution to bring brands and rights holders together more effectively. Covering 500,000 historic and live partnerships over the last 15 years, analysed across more than 80 countries, Luscid offers businesses an objective understanding of the global market.