Let’s Do This, an online marketplace for endurance events, has confirmed a US$15 million Series A round. The investment was led by the EQT Ventures fund, with participation from existing investors NFX, Y Combinator, Richard Oldfield and Paddy Dear.
Let’s Do This reports that it continues to double its user base quarter over quarter. With the funds, it is set to expand its team of sport enthusiasts across its San Francisco and London offices as they ‘continue to build the best place for athletes worldwide to discover and book their endurance events.’
The new investment comes just a few months after an initial US$5m seed funding round from investors including Pete Flint, Serena Williams, Usain Bolt and Paula Radcliffe.
The company was founded by University of Cambridge graduates Alex Rose and Sam Browne. Having experienced some frustration in discovering and entering events, the result of their frustration was to create Let’s Do This. As the company points out… ‘Whether it’s your first 5k run or your tenth IRONMAN Triathlon, Let’s Do This is the best place for both budding and seasoned athletes to find and book their perfect race.’
With more than 30,000 races of all distances and disciplines on the platform, Let’s Do This has rapidly become one of the largest marketplaces for endurance events. The platform offers ‘key information about races that can’t be found anywhere else online and exclusive booking perks for its members.’ These include free cancellation protection, which lets people pull out of a race if they’ve got an injury or if training hasn’t quite gone to plan.
The Let’s Do This team notes that people are 12.5 times more likely to develop a fitness habit after 12 months from signing up to a race than from joining a gym. Let’s Do This also claims to be ‘seven times better at recommending you the perfect race than any other site.’ The Let’s Do This algorithm uses over two billion data points from fitness tracking, race history, social connections and more, to personalise every athlete’s race recommendations.
The Series A follows hot on the heels of a US$5m seed round led by NFX, with participation from athletes such as Usain Bolt, Serena Williams and Paula Radcliffe. With the latest investment, Lyle Fong at EQT Ventures will join the Let’s Do This Board.
“Lyle and EQT Ventures will be crucial to ensuring we achieve our mission of inspiring more epic experiences than any other community on the planet,” said Sam Browne, co-founder and CEO at Let’s Do This. “We couldn’t be more excited for them to be joining the team. I’ve spent a great deal of time with Lyle over the last 12 months and his deep product expertise and clear vision for how we can fundamentally improve people’s daily lives will take us to the next level.
“We’re fanatical about ensuring anyone joining the team shares our intensity and long term commitment to our mission. Lyle and the whole EQT Ventures team have consistently shown us that they live by these same values.”
“Perhaps not surprisingly given the space, the Let’s Do This team is one of the most hyper-competitive and driven teams I’ve met,” said Lyle Fong. “They are tackling a rapidly growing US$30bn market for endurance challenges, which has generally been low-tech and fragmented.
“Sam, Alex and the team attacks this problem with the same mentality and determination as they do when they were winning world-class events. I would hate to have to compete with them!”
Pete Flint from NFX added, “From the very first time I met the team in Silicon Valley their passion, intellect and relentlessness has stood out. We are excited about this large and growing industry and the team’s ability to build a compelling product and marketplace. In a short space of time, they have built an emerging lead in the market and demonstrated their endurance to achieve their mission.”
One of the first investors in the company was Serena Williams, the 22 time Grand Slam Champion. Commenting on the latest funding round she said “I’ve seen first-hand the incredible impact these events can have on making people fitter, healthier and happier. I love that Let’s Do This is not only making events like these more accessible, but also helping to support athletes of all different fitness levels.
She continued, “Women are especially less likely to participate in marathons and obstacle races, so it’s really important there’s a platform encouraging people to step out of their comfort zones and make a positive difference in their lives.”
Another in Let’s Do This’ high profile investor roster Usain Bolt said, “Throughout my career I’ve been lucky enough to inspire people to follow their dreams, get off the couch and get exercising. That’s what attracted me to Let’s Do This. It’s a company that is totally committed to changing the world and inspiring more people to get out there.
“Like me, their team doesn’t believe in limits and is totally committed to being the best in the world. It’s a really natural fit with what I care about and what I believe in, so I am very happy to be supporting their mission to inspire more people to have epic experiences.”
