Bentonville-based sportstech startup Hightag Inc. recently launched an equity crowdfunding campaign after expanding into winter sports.
Hightag installs automated cameras throughout sports facilities to automatically capture footage of Hightag users as they ride by and instantly deliver the footage to the user’s account via the Hightag app.
The Republic campaign will allow investors to purchase up to 667,567 shares of Hightag at $1.85 per share, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The campaign ends Dec. 16. According to the filing, Hightag was founded in September 2022 and has three staff and more than 1,200 users.
The minimum share purchase amount is $99.90, and the maximum purchase amount is $1.23 million, or the maximum the campaign can raise.
According to the campaign website, $31,328 or 41% of the $75,000 minimum was raised as of Oct. 13. Hightag must raise $75,000 by Dec. 16. If the minimum isn’t reached, all investments are refunded to investors.
“We want to build Hightag in partnership with people who love these sports as much as we do,” said CEO Alex de la Fuente. “I don’t think it’s possible to make something like this for athletes unless it’s also made by athletes.”
Hightag recently partnered with action sport camps, Windells, High Cascade, and Milepost35, based in Mount Hood, Ore., to start offering its video capture and delivery service to skiers, snowboarders and mountain bikers. This marked the beginning of its expansion into winter sports.
“Most athletes never get to actually see themselves in action,” de la Fuente said. “We’re building a whole new way for athletes to push their limits and share their best moments.”
The expansion into winter sports required the startup to adapt its technology to cold weather.
“We had to completely rethink and rebuild our core technology,” de la Fuente said. “[As opposed to the old RFID-based system], the new GPS-based system is simpler, safer, more reliable, and more maintainable. And, athletes now need only their phone to use Hightag.”
The developments were supported by the startup’s oversubscribed “pre-seed” funding round, which closed this past spring. REI Co-op participated in the round, marking the Washington-based retailer’s first investment in an Arkansas-based startup. Arkansas-based venture capital firms, including the Venture Center Arkansas Fund, were also investors.
