Scottish start-up Hosel bringing ‘trust’ to £2 billion used golfing gear market
“Golf is an amazing game, but one of the greatest barriers is cost” – Andrew McGinley, co-founder and chief executive
An Edinburgh tech start-up is taking swing at a global second-hand golf gear market worth more than £2 billion.
Hosel’s platform will help golfers compare, buy and trade pre-owned clubs and accessories from trusted sellers in a market dominated by the likes of eBay and characterised by issues around pricing and quality of product.
The firm plans to modernise golf resale with a fresh approach to pricing, authentication, fulfilment and customer experience.
While the venture is launching into a UK market where there are estimated to be as many as five million golfers, bosses see the US and its almost 30 million golfers as the major target market.
Hosel, named after the socket that connects the shaft to the club head, aggregates thousands of pre-owned golf clubs from trusted sellers on a single, searchable site, enabling golfers to compare pricing across sellers, trade in clubs and quickly understand fair market value.
London-based Ascension VC has led a pre-seed £500,000 investment round, with a further institutional round and US expansion planned later this year.
Hosel’s co-founder and chief executive, Andrew McGinley, previously founded, scaled and exited care marketplace Care Sourcer, before going on to support and mentor hundreds of founders across the Scottish tech ecosystem as an entrepreneur in residence at CodeBase. Co-founder and chief technology officer Charles Harley contributed to app development for top Scottish unicorns Skyscanner and FanDuel, before joining FanDuel post acquisition, going on to work alongside McGinley at Care Sourcer.
McGinley said: “Essentially, Hosel is about bringing trust and price transparency to golf resale, which is seriously lacking as things stand. Second-hand golf shouldn’t feel like the Wild West, and by aggregating trusted sellers Hosel is going to be much better for golfers and the overall long-term health of the game.”
He added: “Golf is an amazing game, but one of the greatest barriers is cost. Whether you’re building your first bag, upgrading your driver, or trading clubs you no longer use, everyone should be able to access the game at a fair price.”
Toyosi Ogedengbe, principal at Ascension, said: “Hosel sits at the intersection of two powerful trends: the structural growth of golf participation and the mainstream shift towards reverse commerce.
“As avid golfers who experienced the status quo - fragmented sellers, price opacity and a poor customer experience - Andrew and Charles decided to build the infrastructure required to capitalise on this £2bn-plus market opportunity. We’re excited to back them early in what we believe is the Vinted for golf.”
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