A sports training platform based in Los Angeles Mustard has announced a $3.75 million round. Which was Led by Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund, the current raise follows a $1.7 million round back in late-2020, getting the firm’s funding-to-date up to $6 million.
The funding
The new investors this time out are Mark Cuban, OneTeam Partners, Ronnie Lott, Justin Rose, the Major League Soccer Players Association, and the United States Women’s National (Soccer) Team Players Association, joining the list of existing investors that includes big-name athletes like quarterback Drew Brees and pitching legend Nolan Ryan.
“There are so many young athletes out there who could be future Olympians, MLB pitchers, or high school state champions in whatever sport they’re passionate about,” Brees said in a statement offered up to TechCrunch. “For me, that was football. Unfortunately, many young athletes lack access to the type of coaching I received. I believe Mustard truly levels the playing field, making elite training accessible and affordable for young, aspiring athletes, and I’m proud to support their mission.”
Beyond Baseball
The extended roster of investors reaches as the company looks to grow its coaching offerings beyond baseball. The list of more sports contains golf, soccer, and football. Golf appears like an easy enough leap from baseball, in terms of offering feedback to an athlete executing a move from a relatively stationary position. Part of the funding will go toward hiring further team members to help them extend the offering The company says.
“Our new investors bring force-multiplying experience and connections across all major American sports,” CEO Rocky Collis said in a release. “As we expand our platform to include additional major sports beyond baseball, athletes everywhere will be able to learn their personal recipe for improvement, regardless of their resources.”
Mustard’s sensor-free approach to information capture is what it expects will set it different from other offerings. The technology is a fairly low barrier of entry on this front, using a smartphone camera to capture the mechanics of a body movement via a team that contains several retired Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) employees. From there, the app offers feedback, in the form of a “report card.”