Ireland and Leinster rugby out-half Ross Byrne is to launch a star personality platform in the New Year which will provide a one-stop shop for businesses and consumers keen to access influencers, sports stars and other talent.

The Ireland player along with his business team is to go live with Starfolio, a new technology platform that will enable direct contact to be made between individual influencers and businesses keen to connect for personal appearances, messages and more.

The nascent business has signed up over 200 prominent Irish stars across a range of sports, including GAA, soccer and rugby.

Cillian O’ Connor from the GAA, Luke McGrath from Rugby and Megan Campbell of the Irish Women’s National team and Liverpool will be among the first to be part of the network when it goes live.

It will also expand beyond sport into music, entertainment and the broader world of celebrity.

Actor Jason O’Mara and Adare Manor Chef Mike Tweedie will also be on the list of people that can be contacted.

At the age of 26, Byrne has a long way yet to go in a rugby career that has seen him play over 100 times for Leinster and 14 times so far for Ireland.

Planning ahead though he has teamed up with Michael Rogers and Mark Lyttleton of Mosaic, a successful App and Web Development agency in Dublin and London, for this new venture.

The Starfolio platform will utilise leading-edge technology, developed by Mosaic to provide access to talent and help drive new revenue for people in the public spotlight that the general public want to hear from.

The company has this week commenced raising €300,000 which places a pre-investment valuation of €1.5m.

This is the first fundraising exercise that the company is undertaking. The fundraising is being coordinated by Spark Crowdfunding, which means it is accessible for small to medium-sized investors, who can invest anything from €100 upwards on the Spark platform.

The company is forecasting revenues of €2.3m after three years and a net profit of €770k.

“Along with my business partners Michael and Mark, we have devoted 18 months bringing this concept to start up,” said Byrne.

“As a player, I have often been approached by people in business and organisations looking for talented people to help launch a product, deliver a message or be a brand ambassador.”

“Starfolio provides a platform which makes sourcing talent easy and such has been the interest from influencers and sports players, in particular, who have registered that we have quickly grown the numbers to above 200 people simply by word of mouth.”

 

Sport for Business Perspective

Personalised content and short-form endorsement are a phenomenon of our age. Technology has made it simple for stars to connect directly and record messages that take one minute of their time but create memories and impact that are strong for those on the receiving end. Starfolio will likely sit in the space between Cameo where you can get Nigel Owens to wish a friend a happy birthday for a little over €50, and Sport Endorse where the relationship management between star and client is also enabled effectively using technology and connection. Each service will rely on the strength of its lineup and the effective enabling of a contact point that satisfies both sides.

 

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