Can a sponsorship marketplace finally work? How these two entrepreneurs are using audience data and AI to change the game

Sponsorship marketplaces are not a new idea. Over the years, the industry has seen many well-intentioned attempts to connect buyers and sellers at scale, based on the assumption that sponsorship can be bought and sold like any other marketplace product.

In reality, most sponsorship marketplaces have struggled to gain traction. They rely on the desperation of smaller teams and events willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of pounds to be listed, while the brands that supposedly matter rarely show up. Supply overwhelms demand. Listings pile up. Buyers stay away.

It’s why the phrase “sponsorship marketplace” often triggers a collective sigh across the industry.

Anvara is well aware of that history. And it is precisely why its founders believe their audience-driven data approach might finally be different.

A familiar problem, seen from a different angle

Founded in May 2024 by Andrei Stenmark and Nick Khalili, Anvara is a US-based platform that connects brands and rights holders across sponsorship, events, and real-world media opportunities.

On the surface, the pitch sounds familiar: discover inventory, send offers, and connect buyers and sellers. But beneath that sits a far more ambitious goal. To give brands a true, data-driven view of the sponsorship market at scale.

Why buyers don’t trust sponsorship listings

One reason sponsorship marketplaces have struggled is simple: listing opportunities and prices alone aren’t enough.

Brands don’t buy sponsorship because something exists. They buy it because it reaches the right audience, in the right format in a manner that supports commercial growth. And yet much of the sponsorship market still relies on self-reported attendance figures, vague audience profiles and inflated media values.

“Brands end up sifting through proposals trying to get to the truth,” says Khalili. “They’re questioning how many people really attended, where they came from, and whether the audience actually matches their target.”

That process is slow, repetitive and often frustrating.

Comparing apples with apples

This is where Anvara’s model genuinely diverges from most marketplaces.

Rather than relying solely on rights holders to define their audience, Anvara uses purchased mobile location data to build detailed profiles of event attendance. That includes how many people attended, where they travelled from, and aggregated behavioural and demographic indicators such as age range, income brackets, interests and affinities.

In short, it gives brands something many event owners still struggle to provide themselves: a credible, independent view of who actually shows up.

“For the first time, brands have a bird’s-eye view of what sponsorships really deliver,” says Stenmark. “What events are happening, what they cost, and what audiences they genuinely reach.”

This matters because, while sponsorship can support brand reputation, employee engagement and community presence, its single biggest commercial benefit remains mass awareness among a defined target audience.

Speed matters more than the industry admits

Sponsorship lead times are traditionally long. For some brands, that’s a welcome feature. Strategic planning cycles, multi-year partnerships and layered activations all require time.

For others, it’s a barrier.

Emerging brands, challenger businesses and digitally native companies often want exposure fast, without sacrificing audience quality. Yet the current system forces them into drawn-out conversations, bespoke proposals and months of back-and-forth before they can even assess fit.

Anvara allows brands to search opportunities by audience type, budget level and format, from college sports to music festivals, and to evaluate multiple options side by side. An AI-powered tool helps marketers input their requirements and surface relevant inventory, while still allowing direct contact with sellers when human discussion is needed.

There is also the option to make an offer immediately, accelerating a process that has historically been anything but agile.

Quality on both sides of the marketplace

Another reason most marketplaces collapse is imbalance. Too many sellers, not enough buyers.

Anvara has been deliberate about building both sides in parallel. The platform currently lists close to $1 billion in sponsorship inventory, spanning professional and minor league sports, emerging sports, food and wine events, marathons, music and art festivals, and exclusive private events.

On the buy side, brands evaluating opportunities include Neuberger Berman, Brex, CAVA, GoPuff, Kraken, Poshmark and BeReal.

“Without strength on both sides, the connection breaks down,” Khalili says. “We’ve been very intentional about avoiding that.”

Too early to declare victory, but worth paying attention

Anvara is still early. A team of six, founded less than a year ago, currently focused on the US market. The company has recently closed a funding round with strategic investors and expects to expand into Europe within the next 12 to 18 months.

History suggests a degree of scepticism is healthy. Sponsorship is not e-commerce, and technology cannot replace creativity or build trusted partnerships, at least not yet. But there are clear pain points in the current process, particularly for brands looking to secure rights quickly without wading through opaque pricing, inflated metrics and months of manual evaluation.

Anvara is not trying to replace human decision-making, but to remove the friction that slows it down. In doing so, it offers a practical solution to a very real problem, and that alone makes it worth paying attention to.