Campus Ink Cashes In on $2 Million Investment
Campus Ink, the go-to source for all things student and athlete merch, receives another large investment from American billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban.
The $2 million investment will be used to grow Campus Ink’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) student merch platform, which allows athletes an opportunity to capitalize on their NIL.
Mark Cuban’s Second Investment
Led by Chicago’s LightBank, a second investment from Mark Cuban allows the NIL platform “to substantially scale to universities, students, and athletes around the country,” according to an announcement from Campus Ink. The investment also came with additional participation from Capital Innovators, Irish Angels, West Suburban Angels, Connetic Ventures, High Street Equity Partners, and The Dike Family Partnership.
Campus Ink says it first proved the successful NIL merch store model with the University of Illinois, generating over $100,000 for its men’s basketball student-athletes during the regular season last year.
“Mark Cuban’s initial investment and vote of confidence last February expedited our growth, amounting to partnerships with nearly 25 schools that will support more than 2,000 athletes, all in six short months,” states Campus Ink. “The renewed commitment, mentorship, and guidance of Mark Cuban has been invaluable.”
Last month, programs at Indiana, Purdue, and San Diego State launched with 200+ athletes. Each student-athlete has a “locker room” with custom merch linked to their Instagram accounts, thanks to a partnership with Meta, where fans can buy directly from the social platform.
“Campus Ink is disrupting the NIL space on behalf of college athletes for the better,” Cuban says.
NIL Milestones
The platform partnered with school bookstores like Gameday Spirit, Legends, and Follett to carry NIL apparel. Through the platform, retailers can choose the players and merch they want to stock, and the platform handles payment to the athletes.
At Indiana, Campus Ink facilitated an NIL poster deal — making Indiana’s basketball players almost $15,000, according to the company. Additionally, All-American pitcher Keely Rochard was the first Virginia Tech student-athlete to sell co-licensed apparel.
A portion of the investment will help bolster Campus Ink’s NIL Private Label Jersey program, which makes athletes 20-30% per item sold.
“At Campus Ink, we exist to change the lives of students,” says CEO/Co-Founder Steven Farag. “Some just happen to be athletes. The company grew by teaching life skills to students, enabling them to design and sell to organizations. When the NIL opportunity presented itself, we were positioned. We set out on a journey last February to roll this out to athletes and schools everywhere, and the feedback and receptiveness has been incredible. The NIL Community has been truly great to us.”