Traction Capital has invested in a Minnesota Technology company revolutionizing the way people fly fish. The company provides anglers with the knowledge and technology to optimize their trout fishing experience. The Minneapolis venture capital firm looks forward to helping TroutRoutes grow their platform as they tackle the U.S market.
TroutRoutes is revolutionizing a sport that began over 1,000 years ago. Their mobile app and desktop service provides anglers with maps of public streams, water conditions, access points, elevation levels, GPS services, locations of local fly shops and more.
“What we’re most excited about is the mentorship and integrated approach to Traction as a capital partner,” says TroutRoutes founder Zach Pope. “The next phase of our project will require more than an early product and an excited early adopter cohort; we’ll need structure, process and people and I can’t think of a better partner for this than Traction Capital and the leadership with Shane Erickson.”
TroutRoutes is already active in 33 states and has mapped over 25,000 streams. With over 100,000 users, they are changing the way new and accomplished anglers experience trout fishing.
Founder Zach Pope is an avid trout angler himself and noticed firsthand the opportunity in the market. In addition to angling, Pope also has experience in technology engineering and management in the medical device space with a Masters in Management of Technology from the University of Minnesota. TroutRoutes has grown rapidly in 2022 and now has 4 employees, with several active openings in technology (software engineering), marketing and operations.
As TroutRoutes begins putting their investment to use, they plan to grow their team, expand to the rest of the U.S and continue to work on product enhancement.
Key advantages of TroutRoutes include:
- Every trout stream with proprietary rating system
- Public land access
- GPS and Navigation
- 750,000 Designated Access Points
- Real-time Stream Flows and Elevation Map
- Personal Notebook (make notes, create markers, plan trips)
Traction Capital and TroutRoutes are excited to join forces during this period of rapid growth. With strong entrepreneurial spirit, Traction Capital looks forward to helping Zach grow his team with more like-minded, hardworking individuals. “Zach is an incredibly smart and driven individual. The Traction Capital team and I are very impressed by the platform he’s developed and can’t wait to see the company accelerate as he grows his team,” says Shane Erickson, Founder and Managing Partner of Traction Capital.