We're thrilled to share that our legacy portfolio company, LeagueApps, has concluded a significant financing round led by Accel-KKR. LeagueApps proves the Laconia B2B investment rule: discover an MVP solving a high pain-point workflow problem combined with great founders who embrace a steady customer-focused go-to-market execution; over time tremendous value gets created with an exciting exit. Congratulations to Brian Litvack and Jeremy Goldberg for a tremendous accomplishment and continued success bringing the company to higher heights alongside Accel-KKR.
The Founders of Laconia first invested in LeagueApps in 2011. We were introduced to Brian and Jeremy as “two really good & smart guys passionate about sports”. They set out to alleviate the pain of managing a recreational sports league. Solutions to that point, if they weren’t paper- or Excel-based, were kludgy at best. This was a huge market waiting to be served.
From Laconia’s perspective, LeagueApps was an early indicator that our B2B investment thesis, the digital workflow transition from manual and legacy software, was also untapped. LeagueApps perfectly lined up with the transition that we were seeing across most industries then and now. Despite the rise in popularity of the B2B investment focus, this transition has not abated. Instead, it is further evolving with the rise of new technologies and AI-enabled platforms.
Still, a market insight is only as good as the people who discover it. Brian and Jeremy showed intelligence, adaptability, keen salesmanship, excellent executive ability, and most importantly patience and honest character. This is not hyperbole: these are always the qualities that bring great companies to fruition in our experience. An idea is only as good as the jockey(s), especially when investing at the seed stage. Seeing our Laconia jockeys cross the finish lines could not be more rewarding!
Legacy Portfolio Spotlight: LeagueApps
