Nine98

Client Overview

• Name: Nine98

• Industry: SportsTech, Consumer, SaaS
• Location: New York
• Stage: Pre-launch & Pre-Seed
• Objective: Build the go-to app for grassroots footballers—enabling players to log matches, track performance stats (goals, assists, clean sheets, fitness), collect & swap personalized digital jerseys via QR, and share their football journey with others.

Challenge

• Founders had only a concept, not a business.
• Needed support to:
  
  • Refine the vision into a VC-backable model.
  • Incorporate the company and define team roles.
  • Create a compelling pitch deck and secure pre-seed funding.
  • Build an MVP capable of attracting early adopters.
• Required to narrow focus, validate the market opportunity, and deliver on a tight four-month timeline.
• Chose Atlantis after an investor referral for our track record in SportsTech and early-stage venture building.

Our Approach

• Partnered from day one to validate and refine the business model through a structured ideation process.
• Incorporated the company and defined founder roles for operational clarity.
• Created an investor-ready deck, resulting in $500K raised in pre-seed funding.
• Designed high-fidelity Figma prototypes and rapidly developed a functional web-app MVP in just four months.
• Drove traction with 10,000+ waitlist sign-ups and 1,700 alpha testers within six weeks.
• Continued collaboration for 11 months, iterating on the MVP and optimizing growth until the team was ready to operate independently.
• Nick operated as fractional COO, coordinating daily with the founders to keep all workstreams aligned.

Key Deliverables

• Investor pitch deck for fundraising.
• Brand strategy & messaging.
• Branding & UX/UI designs.
• Website design (Figma + Webflow handoff).
• Go-to-market plan & growth strategy.
• MVP product development.

Results

• Successfully raised $500K in VC pre-seed funding.
• Grew to 10,000+ waitlist sign-ups within weeks of launch.
• Achieved 2,300+ monthly active users in the first two months.
• Positioned Nine98 as one of the fastest-growing grassroots football apps at launch.

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