Image credits: Let’s Do This
Let’s Do This, a London-based online marketplace for endurance sporting events, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $60M (approx €56M) in a Series B round of funding led by Craft Ventures and Headline.
Existing investors like EQT, NFX, Y Combinator, and newcomer Morpheus Ventures also participated.
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Fund utilisation
The latest investment will enable Let’s Do This to speed up the ongoing US expansion, including the launch of its new Colorado office. The company will also use the funds to improve the website and app experience for searching and booking events.
With the funds, the UK company is planning to add social connections, enabling users to follow each other, discover new events based on their network, and share training progress.
Additionally, Let’s Do This will also be expanding its team with several key hires, particularly in engineering, with plans to grow from 85 to 150 employees by the end of the year.
“We have experienced phenomenal growth over the past 12 months – despite our industry taking a major hit during the pandemic. It is a clear sign that people are desperately craving face-to-face events that allow them to connect with others, feel part of a community and participate in something truly special.”
Let’s Do This: What you need to know
Alex Rose and Sam Browne, both passionate runners and cyclists, experienced the often arduous process of discovering and entering events. As a result, they wanted to solve the challenges and annoyances that come with it. Let’s Do This was founded in 2016 to make it easier for people to find their perfect race, globally.
Alex Rose, co-founder, and COO of Let’s Do This says, “We are living in a world where we spend more time than ever with our heads buried in our phones. The growing influence of social media and the Metaverse is a depressing extension of this, and the effect on our health and wellbeing cannot be ignored. We want to be the online platform that helps people get offline – so they can live life to the full, doing things that make them happy.”
The company’s platform allows people to find, book, and prepare for running, triathlon, cycling, and obstacle experiences seamlessly.
To date, Let’s Do This has promoted and grown almost 100,000 sports endurance events since its inception, including UK events such as Hackney Moves, The Great North Run, and The Oxford Half. It also promoted some of the US events including Bay to Breakers, Long Beach Classic Half & 5K, and Bay Bridge Half Marathon
Rose adds, “We have experienced phenomenal growth over the past 12 months – despite our industry taking a major hit during the pandemic. It is a clear sign that people are desperately craving face-to-face events that allow them to connect with others, feel part of a community and participate in something truly special.”
Let’s Do This has offices in London & San Francisco and is backed by Y Combinator, NFX, and many leading Angel Investors in London and Silicon Valley, including Serena Williams, Usain Bolt and Paula Radcliffe, and founder of Gmail Paul Buchheit, as well as Ian Hogarth, founder of Songkick.
Sam Browne, co-founder, and CEO of Let’s Do This says, “The global sports endurance market is worth an estimated $18B and, with face-to-face events finally a possibility again after a long hiatus, we know this is only set to grow. As a business, not only are we passionate about sports and live events, we know what it takes to make them a true success, which is why so many organisers already trust us to grow their events.
He adds, “Excitingly, sport is just the beginning for Let’s Do This too. Thanks to the funding and support from our investors, we plan to extend into further verticals in the live events and experiences space – continuing on our mission to bring people together through momentous experiences.”
Investor
San Francisco-based Craft Ventures is an early-stage venture fund specialising in the craft of building exceptional companies.
Jeff Fluhr, Co-Founder and General Partner at Craft Ventures says, “Let’s Do This has built an impressive business in the UK by galvanizing a passionate, engaged community of endurance athletes and providing a better way for them to discover and buy tickets for competitive events while also giving race organisers a better mousetrap to promote events and sell tickets. We’re excited to be on this journey with them as they expand into the much larger US market where a modern solution is sorely needed.”
Headline is a global venture capital firm that invests globally from Series B and beyond across geographies, working in collaboration with their early-stage teams.
Christian Leybold, a partner at Headline, says, “There is a distinct camaraderie that group endurance events bring, but most organisers are stuck with low-tech platforms that offer a lacklustre user experience. With Let’s Do This, Alex and Sam have revolutionised how we bring offline experiences online, equipping organisers with the tools they need to increase online visibility, engagement, and registration. The customer growth they’ve seen thus far has been remarkable, and we look forward to seeing how they continue to scale.”
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