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LockerDome Closes $6M in Series A

2013-03-04
ST. LOUIS, MO, Sports social media-publishing platform announced significant fundraising and traffic milestones today. The St. Louis-based platform has completed a $6 million Series A funding round led by Cultivation Capital Growth Fund.
LockerDome, the sports social media-publishing platform for more than 1,500 "networks" of professional athletes, brands, media personalities and other sports properties, announced significant fundraising and traffic milestones today. The St. Louis-based platform has completed a $6 million Series A funding round led by Cultivation Capital Growth Fund, a newly formed venture fund spearheaded by Square co-founder Jim McKelvey , among others.

Additional participants include the St. Louis Cardinals President William DeWitt III and other members of the St. Louis Cardinals ownership group, 5-time NHL All-Star and Hart Trophy winner Chris Pronger , and a member of the Milwaukee Brewers ownership group, among a number of undisclosed parties. The announcement coincides with LockerDome surpassing 10 million monthly unique visitors, having grown by more than five million monthly uniques in just two months.

"It is no coincidence that the announcement of the completion of our Series A fundraise coincides with LockerDome surpassing 10 million monthly unique visitors, as it speaks to the platform's massive recent growth among sports fans and increased profile among knowledgeable investors," said Gabe Lozano , co-founder and CEO, LockerDome. "This additional capital will be used to support our explosive growth and continued penetration of the sports market."

"It has been a pleasure to support LockerDome through these exciting milestones. No team works harder than LockerDome's and their growing success is redefining what is considered possible," said Cliff Holekamp , Partner at Cultivation Capital Growth Fund and a member of LockerDome's Board of Directors.

"Private space travel skeptics should look at LockerDome. Gabe's team built their rocket from angel funding, hard work, and duct tape. If the name is new it's only because they placed function before funding," said Jim McKelvey , co-founder of Square and a member of LockerDome's Board of Directors. "With these new resources, watch out!"

Official brands and networks represented by LockerDome include NFL superstars Troy Polamalu , Larry Fitzgerald , Maurice Jones-Drew , Antonio Brown and Marshawn Lynch ; MLB All-Star Felix Hernandez ; baseball legends Pete Rose and Wade Boggs ; and NBA stars Blake Griffin , Rudy Gay , David Lee and Stephen Curry , among others.

Earlier this month LockerDome announced a strategic partnership with USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. As part of agreement USA Today has begun selling advertising on LockerDome, and LockerDome's traffic is now included within the USA Today Sports Properties network. Additional 2013 strategic initiatives between the two properties will be announced at a later date.

What sets LockerDome apart for its publishers is its ability to reach a more engaged, targeted sports audience and increase their overall social media footprint. Some highlights include:

50% average growth across Facebook and Twitter for its properties in their first 4.5 months.
Cross-promotional flexibility among its networks allowing them to grow their existing audiences with each other, a service Facebook and Twitter do not currently offer.
Extremely high traffic and success rates for its contests, which yield an average landing page conversion of 23% (industry standard is 2% - 3%).

Sports enthusiasts join LockerDome to become a part of interest-specific sports communities where they can consume content and interact with like-minded fans around their favorite professional athletes, teams and sports. Milestones for LockerDome since its launch in January 2012 include surpassing one million uniques in June, two million in October, three million in November, four million in December, eight million in January and now 10 million as of press date. At its current growth rate, LockerDome is on pace to be a top-10 most visited sports site in the next 12 months.

About LockerDome
LockerDome is a social media platform for your sports life. More than 10 million people - athletes, fans, parents, and coaches - use LockerDome to consume content and interact with like-minded people around their favorite sports interests. LockerDome has approved 1,500 of the top sports brands in the country to launch their own LockerDome networks, which serve as interest-specific communities within LockerDome around their brands; this list includes celebrity athletes, media personalities, media companies, corporate brands and amateur sports programs. Learn more at www.lockerdome.com.
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