Let's Do This
UK-based endurance event marketplace Let’s Do This landed $60M in Series B funding and will expand in the US.
Co-led by Craft Ventures and Headline, athlete-investors Serena Williams and Usain Bolt also participated in the round.
Registration Reimagined
Let’s Do This is a community-oriented race registration platform, from road cycling to triathlons to 5Ks and marathons.
Scaling quickly, Let’s Do This hopes to revamp the “lackluster” event sign-up space and boost accessibility for first-time endurance athletes.
Focusing on the experience rather than a transaction, the app helps athletes discover new events and builds a dashboard of scheduled races — all while encouraging conversation and photo sharing with other attendees.
Doubling down social x training, the LDT Together app syncs runs from Strava, creating a sharable training log and syncing with its event-recommending algorithm.
Lesser-known in the US, Let’s Do This will lean on its recent success to fuel expansion.
- Since launching in 2016, the platform has accrued 5M users.
- It landed official registration status for US mega-events Bay to Breakers, Long Beach Classic Half, and more.
- With the new funding, LDT will open a Boulder HQ, joining offices in London and San Francisco.
The company is ramping up hiring efforts to support live experiences and social features.
In For the Long Run
According to Sam Browne, co-founder and CEO of Let’s Do This, the demand for in-person competition is ready to go hyperbolic:
“The global sports endurance market is worth an estimated $18bn; and, with face-to-face events finally a possibility again after a long hiatus, we know this is only set to grow.
Participation paradox. But, even as interest ticks up, race registration hasn’t been following. According to recent reports from RunSignup:
- Participation in annually scheduled events has decreased seen a 23% from 2019.
- The industry is showing a 22% reduction in planned events for 2022 YTD.
- Average registrations per event have decreased by 15%.
As we covered in last year’s Issue No. 115, the race scene had been headed in the wrong direction for some time. In 2019, the number of runners (17.6M) participating in organized races in the US was down 2.7% from 2018 and 7.4% from 2013’s 19M peak.
Looking Ahead
A new approach to discovery and community-building, coupled with the concurrent rise of the endurance economy, could turn the tide for the ailing in-person event scene. Getting social, Let’s Do This will try to convert solo athletes into paying competitors.
