PressBox Secures $825K Pre-Seed Funding, Led by Relay Ventures, to Empower The Next Generation of Sports Leagues
PressBox announces closing of $825K Pre-Seed round led by Relay Ventures with participation from 43 and Profluence Capital.
Bellingham, WA — June 4, 2025 — PressBox, the first AI-powered, vertical content personalization platform for sports, announced the closing of its $825K pre-seed funding round. The round was led by Relay Ventures (https://relay.vc) with participation from 43 (https://43.io), Profluence Capital (https://capital.profluence.com/), and a group of strategic angels.
PressBox empowers leagues, teams, and sports media organizations with the ability to provide highly tailored, multi-modal content to their fans. “As sports fandom becomes increasingly athlete- and influencer-driven, the need to deliver one-to-one personalization that speaks to a wide array of fans is becoming table stakes” said Brian Hough, Co-Founder and CEO of PressBox. “Companies that build personalization capabilities from inception will have a significant advantage as the media landscape in sports continues to shift.”
“In a world that demands increased personalization, generic sports content needs to change to compete with other forms of entertainment.” said Simon Sokol, Vice President at Relay Ventures. “Traditional sports media businesses are struggling to meet the needs of fans who continue to be interested in a broader range of sports, athletes, and topics. PressBox is well positioned to power the next generation of sports content. We’re excited to partner with an experienced team who have lived the problem first hand!“
“Brian and the PressBox team are uniquely suited — as seasoned sports media technologists and AI experts — to innovate content growth strategies that expand sports fandom through personalization and reach.” said Anabel Paksoy, Co-Founder at 43.
Joining PressBox as an investor and strategic advisor is Profluence Capital, led by Andrew Petcash. “We’re excited to not only invest in PressBox from our venture arm, but use their technology across the Profluence Community platform”, Petcash joins an existing team of advisors that includes industry veterans Robert Occhialini (CTO, World Surf League) and Michael Morrell (VP, SMT).
This funding round comes as PressBox scales its pilot program to additional partners and expands its capabilities to additional sports, . As more organizations look to reach a new generation of fans, the company is delivering best-in-class solutions that dramatically simplify creating and distributing personalized content.
For more information on PressBox, visit https://pressbox.studio.
About PressBox
Rooted in deep sports media expertise, PressBox is purpose-built for the next generation of sports leagues that are redefining modern fandom. By automating the discovery, creation, and publishing of personalized, multi-modal content, PressBox gives emerging leagues the same technological edge historically reserved for the major leagues, helping them reach fans with highly personalized content at scale.
For press or partnership inquiries, please contact: founders@pressbox.studio