StellarAlgo: Activating 2 billion sports fans
StellarAlgo
When was the last time you painted your face to go to your favourite restaurant? Let us guess – before the game? There are more than 2 billion avid sports fans around the world who are 10 times more engaged and passionate than any other fans, according to Calgary’s StellarAlgo, the leading data solutions provider for the sport and live audience industry.
StellarAlgo uses its proprietary technology and customer data to enhance and cater fan experiences with live artists, enthusiast brands and sports teams. The five-year-old company is coming off a major Series A announcement in 2021, raising $16.5 million to support its mission of connecting sports and live audience organizations with their passionate audiences.
What began with seven enterprise clients has grown to more than 85, including the likes of the New York Yankees, the Arizona Coyotes, the San Francisco 49ers, the Florida Panthers and, of course, the Calgary Flames.
Vincent Ircandia, founder and CEO of StellarAlgo, is a first-time founder and proud Calgarian who spent his academic and early adult life south of the border. He broke through the sports and live audience industry working in marketing technology and data with the Los Angeles Kings, became SVP of Business Operations for the Portland Trail Blazers and was also a member of the NBA’s analytics steering committee.
Vincent Ircandia, founder & CEO, StellarAlgo
CALGARY BY CHOICE
Ircandia chose Calgary as StellarAlgo’s home for a reason: he was confident the collaborative, supportive nature of his hometown would be the best bet for his startup.
“I thought about starting the company in the Bay Area or in New York, but I believe the collaborative nature of our city really stands out over other markets,” said Ircandia.
In addition to the collaborative ecosystem, Ircandia knew there was an abundance of great leadership and talent in Calgary’s tech industry, all of which were invested in establishing Calgary as a tech hub. As a first-time founder, he knew that was exactly the kind of support system he would need along the way.
Calgary also offers huge potential for homegrown talent, given the city’s vibrant post-secondary landscape - SAIT, Mount Royal University, and University of Calgary alumni are all well represented on the StellarAlgo team. These schools work closely with the tech community to ensure graduates are well prepared to meet the ever-changing needs of this dynamic industry. This collaboration has been key in attracting and keeping tech talent in Calgary, even when the demand for highly trained employees is elevated in the United States and across Canada.
Jana Taylor, Chief People & Culture Officer, StellarAlgo
StellarAlgo wants to pay it forward by playing a role in fostering Calgary’s tech ecosystem – its leadership participates in mentorship opportunities, and works with the community as a member of The A100, Venture Mentoring Services of Alberta, and the advisory committee at Platform Calgary. Jana Taylor, Chief People & Culture Officer, is on the board of TELUS Spark, where she supports initiatives on digital literacy, which nurtures the city’s talent pipeline.
StellarAlgo is also investing in the tech community through its hiring, by empowering passionate people who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. Its core “3G Values” – to have a growth mindset, to be self-galvanizing, and growing together – shape the Team Stellar culture.
“It’s important our team has a can-do attitude, where everyone is aligned on a shared purpose, trusts one another to get the job done and are collaboratively competitive,” said Ircandia. “Like the greater tech community in Calgary, the StellarAlgo team is passionate about helping each other learn and grow.”
DATA TECHNOLOGY FOR ENGAGEMENT THAT COUNTS
During Ircandia’s time with the Portland Trail Blazers, the NBA team was known as a leader in data and analytics amongst professional sports. Using technology, the Trail Blazers did a great job of understanding who their fans were – given the limitations of the technology at the time.
It was while he was with the Portland Trail Blazers that Ircandia had his inflection moment – looking around at a stadium full of people, he realized that while they were unified in their passion, each had a unique fan story that brought them there. Ircandia recognized through technology, sports, and live audience, entertainment groups could gain insights and understand fans in ways that would enable them to engage more meaningfully.
There are many data points entertainment organizations can pull from to better understand customers and fans including email marketing, social media, mobile applications, e-commerce, among others. Such understanding can form the basis of an elevated fan experience through tactically deployed marketing initiatives, offers, and promotions.
“Like the greater tech community in Calgary, the StellarAlgo team is passionate about helping each other learn and grow.”
To organize and enrich customer data from across a variety of systems, StellarAlgo developed a Customer Cloud Platform (CCP) that creates a comprehensive customer database that easily integrates with an organization’s existing data systems. Developed in Calgary by co-founders, technical experts, and long-time leaders in the tech community, Sean Fynn and Joseph King, this unique platform brings together all the internal and external data used by sports, live audience, and entertainment organizations to provide a well-rounded profile of each individual fan.
Thanks to the rapid digitalization of everyday life, customers are interacting through digital channels now more than ever – sometimes exclusively – and the demand for a platform like StellarAlgo’s will only increase. StellarAlgo is the only platform on the market to incorporate all elements of the ecosystem surrounding fans and live events into a unified data record: the teams themselves, fans, advertisers, ticketing, media companies, streaming services, food and beverage, mobile apps, merchandisers and more.
Moda Center, the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon.
The CCP is at the centre of this ecosystem, empowering teams to deliver personalized fan experiences using tailored rewards and enabling sponsors and corporate partners to identify and reach customers in the ecosystem through targeted advertising. For instance, StellarAlgo helped the New York Yankees create a campaign that motivated fans, who normally attend a game once every three-to-five years, to show up in the bleachers more frequently. Specialized offers geared toward this distinct fan profile helped the Yankees increase customer engagement and improved conversion by as much as 20 per cent.
Toyota spends US$175 million annually on sports advertising in the U.S. alone, but with such a vast market, it’s difficult to define who they’re reaching. Toyota leveraged data to put together a special offer for Vancouver Canucks fans – rather than reach out to the more than 2 million fans in the Canucks’ database, StellarAlgo was able to analyze that data to identify 20,000 individuals who were most likely to engage with the offer, generating more than 2,000 customer leads for Toyota. This targeted approach isn’t just good for Toyota’s business, it also improves the consumer experience by delivering offers to those most likely to find them beneficial while ensuring the rest of the fanbase doesn’t receive marketing they’re not interested in.
WHAT’S NEXT?
In the near term, StellarAlgo is focused on being a great place to work – and it’s working. Front Office Sports has named it one of the Best Employers in Sports for three consecutive years. StellarAlgo is continuing to build out its team in Calgary as it scales and acquires more global clients, invests in Calgary’s tech community and develops and attracts talent.
StellarAlgo has already changed the role of data and tech for the sports and live entertainment industry, and it won’t stop until it is the platform to reach the more than 2 billion avid sports fans around the world.
That said, having a physical presence close to their growing clientele is critical for operations and further growth. StellarAlgo has representation across Canada and the United States and Ircandia foresees a larger global presence in the company’s future to better support international clients. StellarAlgo’s ongoing expansion is another feather in Calgary’s cap as a place where global problems are solved through technology and innovation – and we’re all fans!
Are you ready to make moves in Calgary’s tech scene, working with forward-thinking companies like StellarAlgo? Head to our Live Tech Love Life careers page and see what opportunities might be out there for you.