Clubessential, the leading provider of membership and club-management solutions to the private club industry, today announced the acquisition of PrestoSports Inc. PrestoSports is a leading provider of “software-as-a-service” (SaaS) technology to colleges and conference offices used for designing, building and maintaining official athletic websites, sports statistics, sports camp management and live event broadcasting.
PrestoSports, based in Rockville, Maryland, empowers over 950 colleges and universities in North America to use sports information — such as statistics on athletes, activities, schedules and more — to create deeper connections between school sports teams, their fans, coaches, athletes, and the athletes’ parents.
“We are excited to welcome PrestoSports into the Clubessential family within our newly formed Sports Division. We look forward to delivering our customers a more expansive suite of software solutions to help them continue to nurture and grow their tight-knit communities of members, fans, athletes, and coaches,” said Randy Eckels, CEO of Clubessential. “PrestoSports is a natural fit for us and broadens our mission to help our customers attract, retain and serve their membership communities for life.”
“There are many synergies in the needs and desires of the markets PrestoSports and Clubessential serve,” said Serge Knystautas, CEO of PrestoSports. “For instance, our Camps Management solution that helps nearly 800 coaches run camps on college campuses is an ideal fit for Golf and Tennis Professionals running camps and clinics for members at private clubs.” Knystautas, a serial entrepreneur, is moving on to pursue other opportunities, but said he is “excited by the acquisition and the new home PrestoSports has found.”
“As we reviewed potential partners to add to the Clubessential family, PrestoSports stood out,” said Morad Elhafed, a partner at Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm and the primary investor in Clubessential. “Not only do Clubessential and PrestoSports share a similar vision and set of core values, but they both take a similar approach in delivering user-centric technology solutions that drive member engagement and relationship-building through rich information on activities, events and financial transactions.”
About Clubessential
Founded in 2002, Clubessential provides a full suite of membership and club management solutions to country, golf, city, yacht, and other private clubs. The Clubessential Suite consists of website, mobile apps, accounting, point-of- sale, CRM and reservations software solutions which help over 1,400 private clubs better attract, engage, and retain their members. For more information, visit http://www.clubessential.com.
About PrestoSports
PrestoSports, founded in 2002, is a leading provider of athletic content management software to colleges and conference offices. It markets solutions for website design and hosting, live stats, award management, merchandising, officiating and photo hosting. PrestoSports features a full-time staff with more than 40 years combined experience in collegiate athletics. It includes former sports information directors, conference administrators and experience in collegiate marketing solutions — all focused on creating innovative web solutions for the company’s clients.
About Battery Ventures
Battery strives to invest in cutting-edge, category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, Web infrastructure, consumer Internet, mobile and industrial technologies. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at stages ranging from seed to private equity and invests globally from offices in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Tel Aviv and London. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at http://www.battery.com/ and find a full list of Battery’s portfolio companies here.
