Brian Ludden’s love in baseball card collecting was reignited during the Covid outbreak, and he wanted to introduce his kid to the hobby.
The two friends purchased a deck of cards and then attempted to look up their individual values online, but they quickly discovered that this was much easier said than done.
This motivated Ludden to create and release Ludex, a trading card digitization and valuation smartphone app. Baseball, Pokémon, Magic:
The Gathering, and any other trade card may be scanned using a smartphone and Ludex by card collectors and resale shops.
According to Ludex, the software can accurately assess a card’s worth by scanning it for its condition and distinguishing features using artificial intelligence. It also generates an electronic copy of the card.
Around 800 Billion Cards Have Been Printed,
according to Ludden, who spoke with Built In. We used a variety of card permutations to train our AI, and were able to account for over 90% of all cards ever printed.
After launching in 2021, Ludex has raised over $8 million from private investors and venture capitalists alike.
The Chicago firm is bypassing traditional investors in favor of raising capital from close associates and family.
In 2021, Ludex received $5.3 million in its initial funding round, which featured contributions from former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher.
The firm raised nearly $3 million in a new round of fundraising from convertible debt investors.
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To revolutionize the way individuals collect cards and commercialize their collections, “we were lucky to gather cash via grassroots fundraising,” Ludden told Built In.
“This included more than 100 friends and family members who all believed in our vision and goal.” We have almost $8 million in funding, and we intend to use it to improve the collector experience by adding new features and products and working with new partners.
Ludden And Heather Denniston, A Founding Partner Of Ludex,
told Built In that the company is about to roll out a new feature that would allow users to advertise their cards for sale on other markets.
The Chicago-based firm also has ambitions to broaden the scope of its current offering. Marvel and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards will be supported soon.
Coins, comic books, and shoes are just some of the numerous collectibles that Ludden and Denniston say could benefit from Ludex’s scanning and pricing technology.
Our system does not make any assumptions about the objects it is used to detect. We can expand into other niches,” Denniston told Built In.
When asked about the company’s ultimate goal, Ludden said, “We want to be the home of the collector and have all the collections in one area and be able to price and monetize them.”
There has been a lot going on in the trading card industry as of late. Speculators are interested in both rare sports cards and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are driving up auction prices. As a result, this is spurring growth and investment in the startup community.
When it was created in 2021, Ludex raised US$5.3 million in its first round of funding, with NFL legend Urlacher among the original investors.
The Company Just Completed A $3 Million US Dollar Convertible Loan Deal.
“We were fortunate to raise capital via grassroots fundraising, with over 100 friends and family who all believed in our vision and mission to change
the way people collect cards and monetise their collections,” Brian Ludden, founder and chief executive officer of Ludex, told the online startup publication Built In Chicago.
To improve the collector’s experience, we have raised over US$8 million and intend to continue expanding our features, product lines, and collaboration with our key partners.
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Currently, the Ludex app supports trading cards for baseball, basketball, football, and ice hockey. However, in the near future, the app will be updated to support trading cards for soccer, mixed martial arts (MMA), wrestling, and racing.
The company already has over 200,000 users, and with the support of new funding, it may grow even more inside the trading card sector, which is worth an estimated US$26 billion.
As Ludden put it, “it was the next 20% that absorbed nearly all the money” and “20 to 25 people working on this daily for the last year.
” “We Got To 70% To 75% Accuracy Pretty Soon.”
If we can achieve over 90% accuracy in under three seconds, I told him, “we’re going to transform the industry.” We’ve passed the 90 mph mark and are currently traveling in under two seconds. Thus, as I told the backers, “we solved that problem.”
In the future, Ludex hopes to increase the variety of cards its software can recognize. Both founders are considering introducing a platform where collectors can trade and sell cards, which would put the company in direct competition with sites like eBay.
