Seattle-based sports operations startup Arkero has raised $6 million in a pre-seed funding round, alongside securing major partnerships across professional soccer leagues in the United States and the United Kingdom, the company announced Thursday.
The round was led by Roger Ehrenberg of Game Changer Ventures, with participation from Alexis Ohanian at 776, David Tisch at BoxGroup and other investors.
Arkero is building a centralized platform to unify operational data, workflows and decision-making. Its first partners include the Seattle Sounders, Seattle Reign, San Diego FC and Bolton Wanderers FC, with initial deployments integrating AI into matchday operations and season ticket renewals to improve coordination and reduce operational friction across departments.
“I own a football club. I’ve sat in the meetings, lived the chaos and felt the cost of running a business on Excel and email. The opportunity exists because this is broken from the inside,” Shivaas Gulati, CEO of Arkero, said in a statement.
Based on early deployments, the Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign project more than a 50 percent improvement in matchday planning efficiency for the 2026 season.
