Sportfunder

What Sportfunder does

Sportfunder (legal entity: SportFunder, Inc.; doing business as MAKEACHAMP and Teamboost) is a privately held Montreal-based crowdfunding platform founded in 2012 that operates exclusively in the sports domain. The platform enables individual athletes, teams, and clubs across 52 countries and 94 sports disciplines to launch fundraising campaigns covering competition fees, training, equipment, travel, and coaching costs. Underlying technology combines a self-serve web platform and mobile application with integrated social media sharing (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), an email marketing dashboard with LinkedIn and Excel contact import, team and multi-campaign management modules, contributor dashboards, free personal athlete profile pages, and identity verification for campaign authenticity.

The business model is transaction-based: Sportfunder charges a 5% platform fee on total funds raised, rising to a 12% admin charge on campaigns that meet their funding goal, with an additional ~3% absorbed for payment processing through PayPal, Stripe, and Ebanx. Sign-up, campaign creation, and contribution are free, making this a freemium, pay-as-you-go model. Go-to-market is product-led and self-serve: athletes and teams register independently, leverage their personal social networks and content marketing (blog, social, email, earned media) to drive contributions, and the platform earns only when funds are successfully raised. Additional monetization layers include monthly recurring contributions and a Sponsor Management module that places corporate logos on athlete profiles. The company operates with 1–10 employees, has no disclosed institutional funding, and has been continuously operating since 2012 with no recorded M&A, leadership changes, or restructuring events.

Name

Sportfunder

Legal name

SportFunder, Inc.

Website

https://sportfunder.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sportfunder is a Montreal-based crowdfunding platform founded in 2012 that enables individual athletes, teams, and clubs across 52 countries and 94 sports to raise funds for competition, training, equipment, and travel via a self-serve, transaction-fee-based model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Crowdfunding Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Fundraising & Development Services (Foundations, NIL Collectives Support) (MPAKAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Creator Fundraising & Crowdfunding Platforms (Recurring/Project-Based) (MPACAFAJ)

Keywords

• Sports crowdfunding platform
• Athlete fundraising
• Team sponsorship platform
• Fan engagement platform
• Crowdfunding technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Platform Transaction Fees: MAKEACHAMP charges 5% platform fee on the total amount raised at the end of each campaign. For campaigns that reach their goal, the admin charge is 12%. Payment processor fees of approximately 3% are charged by PayPal/Stripe separately.
2. Campaign Fees: Fees are deducted from funds raised at the end of each campaign. Fees vary based on campaign size and type. Non-profit or discounted campaigns may have different fee structures.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sportfunder operates MAKEACHAMP (also branded as TeamBoost), a dedicated online crowdfunding platform that enables individual athletes, sports teams, and clubs to raise money from supporters and fans through personalized campaign pages. The service bundles campaign creation, email marketing, social sharing, reward fulfillment, recurring monthly contributions, and sponsor management into a single self-service platform, with the company retaining a percentage of the funds raised.

Product overview

MAKEACHAMP is a crowdfunding platform specifically designed for sports, operating as a unified platform that combines campaign creation, team management, email marketing, social media integration, and payment processing into a single service. The core MAKEACHAMP platform provides the foundational crowdfunding infrastructure, while additional modules like Team Campaign Management (for managing multiple athlete campaigns), Email Marketing System (for supporter communication), Social Media Integration (for cross-platform sharing), Rewards Management (for contributor incentives), and Personal Athlete Profile Pages (for showcasing athletic journeys) extend its functionality. The platform also includes a Mobile Application for on-the-go campaign management and Sponsor Management tools for corporate partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MAKEACHAMP Crowdfunding Platform (also DBA TeamBoost) Self-service online crowdfunding service for individual athletes, sports teams, and clubs to raise money from supporters and fans, with built-in campaign management, email marketing, social media integration, reward management, recurring monthly contributions, sponsor management, and personal profile pages.
• Sportfunder Mobile Application Mobile app version of the MAKEACHAMP crowdfunding platform, providing smartphone access for athletes, teams, and supporters to manage or contribute to campaigns.

Quantifiable outcome

• Campaigns with video raise 120% more contributions than those without
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PayPalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processor for receiving campaign contributions. Athletes must set up PayPal account to receive funds. Platform integrates PayPal for secure fund transfers within 5-15 business days after campaign ends.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processor for credit card transactions alongside PayPal. Enables secure payment processing for contributions.
• EbanxcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processor enabling international transactions, particularly for supporting global athlete base across 52 countries.
• FacebookcoreTechnology or IntegrationSocial login integration allowing users to sign up and register using Facebook credentials. Also used for social sharing of campaigns.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Kickstarter: Major rewards-based crowdfunding platform used by some athletes and sports ventures to fund projects and expeditions. Overlaps in crowdfunding mechanics but is not sports-niche.
• Indiegogo: Established general crowdfunding platform with flexible funding options. Comparable as a competitor for any crowdfunding dollars, including those targeting sports causes.
• GoFundMe: Dominant general-purpose crowdfunding platform that already hosts a large volume of sports fundraising campaigns. Comparable as a competitor for athlete and team fundraising dollars, though not sports-specialized.

Emerging players

• INFLCR: Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) platform serving college athletes and athletic departments. Compares as an emerging player in the sports monetization space adjacent to athlete crowdfunding.
• Opendorse: NIL and athlete monetization platform that connects athletes with endorsement opportunities. Relevant as an adjacent monetization channel competing for the same athlete-funding wallet.

Direct peers

• PledgeSports: Dedicated sports crowdfunding platform that helps amateur and professional athletes raise funds for training, competition and equipment. Directly comparable as a sports-only take-rate crowdfunding business.
• Boosterthon Fun Run: School and youth-sports fundraising platform combining events with online giving. Comparable for team-based and youth-athlete fundraising workflows.
• Snap! Raise: Digital fundraising platform focused on school, athletic and team-based fundraising in the U.S. Highly comparable for the team/club segment of Sportfunder's customer base.
• Pledge It: Sports fundraising platform popular with collegiate and high-school teams for pledge-based and campaign-based fundraising. Comparable model serving teams and athletes for sports-specific costs.
• RallyMe: Sports-focused crowdfunding site for teams and athletes, often used by youth and amateur sports organizations. Closely matches Sportfunder's SMB team and individual athlete use cases.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sport_funder

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sportfunder