Atlanta-based iFOLIO is diving into NIL. Here’s why they believe it is good business.

The game-winning kick at this year’s Super Bowl by Kansas City Chiefs Harrison Butker had a particularly special connection to Atlanta-based SaaS company iFOLIO.

Butker, a former Georgia Tech football star, was one of iFOLIO’s first student-athlete users who used the platform and specialized landing pages to get noticed by NFL agents.

iFOLIO is hoping to build up the careers of more student-athletes as it enters into the world of NIL (name, image, and likeness).

After NCAA rules changed in 2021, amateur student-athletes now have the right to publicity and can take on monetary contracts. To date, that has meant big brands (think Gatorade and Beats by Dre) have signed high-profile athletes to rep their brands.

This week, iFOLIO announced its first crop of NIL deals with four student-athletes on Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball team. Each athlete will receive $5,000 in a combo of cash and website services for four years.  In turn they will highlight iFOLIO on social.

Chris Adams, iFOLIO creative director, says the software company is first and foremost all about web services and storytelling. Companies and teams can use the platform to increase customer engagement, while students and athletes can build out their portfolio sites,  “and start building their brand and digital presence in a really fun, visual, and impactful way.”

Student athletes can use iFOLIO as a comprehensive site including highlight reels, links, images, and even their academic experience and interests, as a unique marketing tool that “lets their skills and expertise shine,” Adams told Hypepotamus.

You can meet the iFOLIO NIL student-athletes here:

Tonie Morgan: https://ifolio.cloud/tonie-morgan

Kara Dunn: https://ifolio.cloud/kara-dunn

Kayla Blackshear: https://ifolio.cloud/kayla-blackshear

Cam Swartz: https://ifolio.cloud/cam-swartz

The biggest NIL deals to date have gone to SEC football quarterbacks, men’s basketball standouts, and college gymnasts. But inking deals with players at a Division I women’s basketball school like Georgia Tech is strategic for the iFOLIO team.

“We believe that women college basketball players can actually drive more NIL value because women are more likely to engage with their digital and social community,” said Adams.

It is also important because iFOLIO’s founder Jean Marie Richardson is a Georgia Tech alumna herself.

iFOLIO is one of a small but growing number of Atlanta companies harnessing NIL as a marketing and branding tool. In September we highlighted Press Sports and their equity-based NIL deals that added star athletes to its advisory board. It has also opened new doors for The Players’ Lounge, a startup founded by UGA football stars specifically to help other student athletes navigate the NIL landscape.