Pickstar, Australia’s largest marketplace for brands, corporates and consumers to connect with athletes and celebrities, has announced it has secured $5 million in an initial funding raise.

In a recent edition of Ministry of Sport’s ‘Brand Break’ series, Pickstar chief growth officer, Loren Renton, discussed the rise of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) partnerships in sport and the opportunity ahead for brands and rightsholders.

Key investors in the initial round include former Australian cricketer, Adam Gilchrist, former Afterpay chairperson, Mike Jefferies, Sports Rights Tech founder, Judith Griggs, former St George Bank CEO, Robert Chapman, Torque Software CEO, Mark Thompson, Dubber and Family Zone chairperson, Peter Pawlowitsch, RADventures, and Southern Angels.

According to a statement, the investment will boost Pickstar’s efforts to expand its UK business and expand into the US, with its talent activation platform, VLAST, to be activated and continue its pursuit of global sporting organisation partnerships to help athletes and governing bodies manage talent appearances and activations.

Discussion the $5 million investment, Pickstar founder and former AFL athlete, Matthew Pavlich, said: “I’m incredibly proud with the support we’ve received from investors and the continued interest and commitment to our business.”

“Igniting meaningful moments with inspirational stars was an idea that James (Pickstar founder, James Begley) and I believed in from the beginning and we have worked hard with some incredibly talented and passionate people to bring it to life.

“This investment enables us to take the business to the next level here in Australia and help grow the UK, while getting us ready for our US expansion, it’s huge momentum for the team,” Pavlich said.

Discussing the growth of its software-as-a-service (Saas) platform, VLAST, Pavlich said the platform is now the leading global software provider for international leagues, clubs and teams to track and measure player appearances and activations.

“VLAST is solving some major problems for athletes and teams around the world and the interest in what it can do has been immense,” Pavlich said.

“With our SaaS product, we are attracting major deals with organisations such as NFL, Cricket Australia and the English Premier League clubs.

“We are ready to scale after doing the hard yards of building, testing and understanding the market here in Australia and the UK,” he said.