A significant financial gain for one of the marketplace leaders in the NIL space is helping democratize access for athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.
MOGL, whose athlete platform connects student athletes across all levels of the NCAA to brands, closed a $2.6 million commitment from Magarac Venture Partners (MVP) on Thursday, according to a press release obtained by The NIL Deal.
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Among MVPs partners is former NFL safety Will Allen, who spent his over 10-year career with the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Steelers. Allen said in a statement that the collaboration, “exemplifies our commitment to innovation, diversity and our shared belief in the power of disruptive thinking to drive positive change.”
“MOGL was founded to empower athletes,” Brandon Wimbush, co-founder of MOGL, said in a statement. “To have our largest financial backer be a former high profile athlete himself really enforces our commitment to putting athletes first in everything that we do.”
Wimbush, a former quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, says the money generated through MVP will help maximize company performance, as well as grow the availability of NIL to all levels of college athletics.
As per the statement, the funding will also help companies grow campaign insights and reporting capabilities and continue to expand the compliance and marketplace offerings for universities and collectives.
“It’s important that all college athletes have the ability to maximize their platforms while they are at their peak marketability,” Wimbush said. “Our goal is to bring the necessary resources for monetization and professional opportunities to all 500,000 college athletes.”
In addition, the funding will be used to help MOGL launch a mobile application in 2023, a deliverable Wimbush was eyeing on at the beginning of the year.
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“Launching a mobile app is going to be a significant increase in user retention and athlete engagement on the platform, just giving [athletes] something that is more available and accessible on a daily basis is going to be massive for us,” Wimbush told The NIL Deal in an interview following the NCAA Convention. “As a former athlete myself, I know how important it is to have an app in my hand rather than having to sign in on a web application every time.”
In the short time MOGL has been in the space, a press release from the company’s partnership with Division III Rhodes College projected the company to break the $1 billion threshold. To date, MOGL is backed by six other companies, as well as All-Pro NFL safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The platform is used by over 10,000 student-athletes, with brand partnerships spanning Toyota, Under Armour, NBC Sports and DoorDash. In 2022, MOGL won the SXSW Startup Pitch event in the category social & culture. Their total funding following the commitment from MVP is now at $5.5 million.
