Sportsman Tracker: a Banner Year During Unprecedented Times
In business, as in life, sometimes things are tough. 2020 has been full of terrible societal hardships: A global health pandemic impacting millions of lives. Acts of violent racism against the Black community that ultimately sparked an international social uprising. An unprecedented shock to the financial system, causing the fastest spike in unemployment in modern history and extreme economic uncertainty. Sometimes life deals us hardships. But in business, if we have the right ingredients…the right team, commitment, market understanding, capital, skills, relationships…we can overcome those hardships and create new opportunities.
Case in point: Sportsman Tracker, one of Grand Ventures’ portfolio companies. I’ve been actively involved on the Board of Directors from the company’s inception and have been keen to see the team succeed. Sportsman Tracker provides a variety of tools for hunters and fishers as well as a community for brands to connect with outdoor enthusiasts. Its primary app, Huntwise, is specifically geared towards hunters and provides powerful tools for mapping, wayfinding, and planning. Entering 2020, the whole team anticipated a breakthrough year for the company. When COVID hit, however, no one could predict the impact that shelter in place orders and social distancing would have on communities that are traditionally very physically active. Mass unemployment and widespread economic uncertainty led us to significantly trim our financial forecasts for the year and cut back on hiring plans.
With a lean team and tight cash management, SMT plowed ahead on developing new features and marketing strategies to react to the challenges posed by COVID. Luckily for us, our new recipe seems to have caught on. The hunting and angling industries are having their best years in over a decade and SMT has delivered the top toolset in the market. The platform offers new mapping and data layers combined with proprietary algorithms for predicting weather and wildlife activity — all in one incredibly powerful platform with an elegant UI.
Sportsman Tracker took inspiration from the successes of other world class apps including Strava’s community and gamification, Peloton’s active coaching, and Masterclass’s celebrity content to build a unique environment for outdoor enthusiasts. For example, with the rise in popularity of short, personal videos, many of the world’s top outdoorsman and wildlife biologists now enjoy sharing clips featuring tips, tutorials, and recommended gear on a community platform. Huntwise began providing video capabilities that enable its users to do just that. The app’s new machine learning algorithm also consolidates pro tips from the community and localizes them for every member. Users can now receive information tailored to their specific region, weather conditions, and personal preferences.
Huntwise has been installed by over 2.5M outdoor enthusiasts and is utilized by people in over 98% of US counties, making it the third fastest-grossing app in its category in the App Store. As we prepare for peak hunting activity in the fall season, we’re feeling encouraged by our early traction. We hope our loyal users and the entire Huntwise community make 2020 their best year ever.
For all the companies that were told they’d never make it, keep on fighting.
For all the companies hit hard by COVID, here’s to a quick recovery!
For all the founders and visionaries, thanks for creating a better future for your customers, employees, and communities.
