Raw Stadia, a Belgo-British company that produces a computer system for the analysis of natural playing surfaces, has raised €1.5 million in a funding round from such investors as LRM, Noshaq, LeanSquare, the former footballer Jan Vertonghen and the entrepreneur Bart Claes, CEO of JBC.
According to Raw Stadia’s co-founder and CEO, Jan Stryckers, the new capital will serve to expand the customer base and move into new markets. The company is looking particularly at the US, where the games of the National Football League (NFL) take place in 30 stadiums, about half of them sporting grass. But it is looking also into cricket, rugby and equestrianism.
The Raw Stadia system analyzes natural surfaces – pitches, baseball fields, etc. – for proper maintenance. It measures density, electrical conductivity, moisture, pH, root depth, grass height, leaf tissue, thatch depth and infiltration and provides “analysis” of nutrients and nematodes. A computer platform displays the results, “provides instant advice,” and tracks conditions over time. A “weather station” – a device on a tripod, the whole standing about a foot tall and resembling a lawn sprinkler – will “track the microclimate in your stadium.” The company blog covers things like grey-leaf spots, the result of a fungal infection called grey-leaf disease.
Raw Stadia was founded in 2018 by the aforementioned Stryckers and by Reece Watson, its CTO. In addition to the usual business executives, the company employs a data scientist (Arne Jaspers), a data analyst (Peter Davids), and a pitch consultant (Sam McAllister). The latest additions are COO Thomas Van der Auwermeulen and Head of Sales Tristan Selis. Headquarters are in Leicester, UK, and Hasselt, Belgium.
On Raw Sadia’s client list are Arsenal FC, Liverpool FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC, RB Leipzig, FC Porto, Inter Milan, KRC Genk, the KBVB, the KNVB and UEFA.
