CHICAGO (March 18, 2024) — Campus Ink, the leading custom apparel platform for college students & athletes, announced it has closed a $2M 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 9,000+ 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."
CAMPUS INK’S NIL STORE TIMELINE
July 1, 2021
NIL legislation officially passes, permitting collegiate athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness
August 2021
Campus Ink signs its first athlete to an NIL deal - Brandin Podziemski, men’s basketball player for the University of Illinois. Podziemski now plays for the Golden State Warriors.
The Illinois NIL Store is born as the rest of the men’s basketball team sings.
March 2022
Campus Ink receives its first initial investment from Mark Cuban following a cold email from CEO, Steven Farag.
March 2022
Campus Ink opens the nation’s first-ever NIL-dedicated physical store - a pop-up store in downtown Chicago featuring Illinois basketball players.
Illinois men’s basketball players make nearly $100K in payouts in first season.
August 2022
Campus Ink’s NIL Store brand expands, opening its second and third stores for Purdue and Indiana athletes.
November 2022
Campus Ink announces a new $2 million raise, including a second investment from Mark Cuban.
March 2023
The NIL Store enters the 2023 NCAA Tournament with 12 schools, including 19 men’s and women’s basketball programs.
Lamont Butler hit the game-winning shot in the NCAA Final Four to send SDSU to its first championship appearance. Butler’s apparel was available for the second semifinal game ended. The UConn NIL Store would go on to win the championship.
April 2023
NCAA women’s basketball star Angel Reese joins the store, just days after LSU women’s basketball’s NCAA National Championship. The Tigers NIL Store launches soon after.
January 2024
March 2024
The NIL Store enters the NCAA Tournament with 57 stores now available across the country, and 47 men’s and women’s basketball programs competing in the national tournament.
About Campus Ink
Campus Ink is the leading custom apparel platform for college campuses. Backed by Mark Cuban, Campus Ink expanded into the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) space in 2021 and launched the NIL Store, which serves as a merchandising solution for student-athletes and schools across the country. The NIL Store operates with the firm belief that every student-athlete has an opportunity to capitalize on their NIL and should earn higher payouts than industry standards. Campus Ink was founded in 1947 on the campus of the University of Illinois and was reimagined in 2015 with an office in downtown Chicago and a production facility in Urbana, Ill., where the company handles all of its production and fulfillment.
###