Nike has acquired TraceMe, the Seattle startup co-founded by Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and backed by investors including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, YouTube founder Chad Hurley, Alibaba co-founder Joe Tsai, and Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group.
Sources close to the deal confirmed the news to GeekWire. We’ve reached out to Nike and will update this story when we hear back.
TraceMe launched back in 2017, spinning out of Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs. The company aimed to connect celebrities with “superfans” through its app via behind-the-scenes content, community features, and more.
But TraceMe pivoted late last year, laying off staff, shutting down its app, and closing a Los Angeles office as it shifted focus to a new idea called Tally, a sports prediction app. Wilson touted Tally during the Super Bowl in February.
Nike was interested in the original TraceMe technology, sources told GeekWire. It’s unclear what will happen to Tally, or how Nike plans to use TraceMe.
TraceMe’s 12 employees will join “Nike Seattle.” Several TraceMe employees, including CEO Jason LeeKeenan, changed their job titles on LinkedIn Friday. Leekeenan, co-founder of TraceMe and a former Hulu and Zulily executive, lists this on his profile:
Lead Nike’s Seattle office: a phenomenal group of digital product, design and engineering teammates, dedicated to building technology that supports Nike’s vision of making sport a daily habit.
Other TraceMe employees who now list Nike as their employer include senior software engineer Vlad Iacob; director of engineering Duoc Nguyen; director of product Trevin Chow; and director of digital product design Sophie Otto.
LeeKeenan previously said TraceMe overestimated the addressable market for its original celebrity app. It was also not able to differentiate enough from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and other larger social media platforms.
There are several similar venture-backed sports media startups ranging from The Players’ Tribune, founded by MLB legend Derek Jeter, to Uninterrupted, founded by NBA superstar LeBron James. NFL quarterback Tom Brady and former lineman Michael Strahan raised VC money last year for Religion of Sports.
Nike’s digital push
While Nike originally started as a shoe and apparel maker, the Beaverton, Ore.-based corporation is becoming a tech company in many ways, investing heavily in tech and digital initiatives such as its self-lacing shoes or high-tech stores. The company’s shares hit an all-time high last month, in part due to a stronger e-commerce business. Online sales were up 42 percent in the most recent quarter.
The company is also focused on building out its NikePlus membership program that helps build 1-to-1 digital relationships with customers, and is rolling out a new subscription program for kids.
Nike in August bought Celect, a Boston-based predictive analytics company, and last year it acquired Zodiac, a consumer data analytics startup.
Nike in 2017 debuted an app called SNKRS, using augmented reality and a Pokemon Go-style scavenger hunt to rethink how customers find and buy limited edition shoes.
Story developing…