Fintech will create mobile app providing centralized digital infrastructure for student-athletes to own and monetize their data

MORGANTOWN, WV / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2022 / VEEPIO Holdings, LLC (VEEPIO), the integrated ecommerce platform using technology to change how athletes can earn money from their names, images, and likenesses (NIL), has been named the digital agency of record for the HBCU Week Foundation, Inc., overseeing digital marketing activities for the foundation.

As the digital agency of record for HBCU Week, VEEPIO will create a single mobile application that will house sponsored content from all 101 individual historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Each HBCU will be able to use VEEPIO's technology integration to activate sponsors and monetize content, retaining complete ownership of their data in the process. By uniting sponsored content for every HBCU in one platform, VEEPIO will be able to activate large brands with HBCU audiences in a transparent and authentic way and connect HBCU initiatives with a singular call to action.

"Increasing economic opportunity through technology has been central to VEEPIO's mission since our inception," said former West Virginia University football standout and VEEPIO co-founder, Najee Goode. "We firmly believe that enabling HBCUs and their students to own and monetize their sponsored content data will create lasting economic equity for institutions that have historically been underfunded and overlooked. As someone with family ties to HBCUs, I'm excited to have the opportunity to level the economic playing field for these schools and student athletes."

VEEPIO's HBCU mobile app will extend content monetization opportunities to HBCU student-athletes, allowing them to take full advantage of the NCAA's new NIL rules. VEEPIO's technology enables the creation of a pure, transparent track record that will define and protect player data rights, transforming data into an asset that can be monetized over an athlete's entire career.

"We believe VEEPIO's approach to monetizing brands through technology will engage the HBCU community and provide significant opportunities in a way we've never seen" said Ashley Christopher, Esq., founder and Chief Executive Officer of HBCU Week Foundation, and an alumna of both Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law. "Through this partnership, we are putting forth tangible efforts to achieve true economic mobility for all 101 HBCUs and their students nationwide."

This announcement continues VEEPIO's momentum in college sports, coming on the heels of the company's NIL partnership with West Virginia University, announced last August. VEEPIO is one of a number of fintech companies finding a home in West Virginia with the support of Vantage Ventures and technology leaders, investors, and financial institutions from the Mountain State.

About VEEPIO Holdings, LLC

VEEPIO is an integrated ecommerce platform, founded by West Virginia University grads, aimed at transforming how athletes monetize their personal brands. Co-founded by NFL linebackers Najee Goode and Grant Wiley, along with finance and tech expert Jonathan Ohliger, VEEPIO is changing the way fans interact with teams through mobile apps. VEEPIO integrates seamlessly into existing applications, and allows content publishers to link any moving object in video within the app to additional content on the web so that the end user never leaves the platform when browsing. For more information, visit: https://veep.io or follow VEEPIO on Twitter: @VEEPIO, Instagram: @VEEPIO, and LinkedIn.

About HBCU Week Foundation, Inc.

The mission of HBCU Week Foundation is to encourage high school-aged youth to enroll into HBCUs, provide scholarship dollars for matriculation, and sustain a pipeline of employment from undergraduate school to corporate America.

HBCU Week is an annual, week-long, programmatic initiative, designed to encourage high school-aged youth to enroll into HBCUs, through exposure to their proud legacies and historical significance. HBCU Week occurs annually, in the Fall. In 2022, HBCU Week will consist of a multi-city tour. The Foundation recently formed a partnership with Disney. HBCU Week will be hosted at Walt Disney World in October 2022.

The most impactful event during HBCU Week is the College Fair. This fair is unique in that the majority of the participating colleges engage in an "on the spot" acceptance process, whereby, if the student attends with a copy of their school transcript and a report with the requisite SAT/ACT score, they could be admitted into college on the spot and offered a scholarship award. Since 2017, more than 3,500 acceptances on the spot have been offered and more than $25,000,000 in scholarships have been awarded.

The Foundation's brand ambassador is ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. For more information, visit: www.hbcuweek.org

About Vantage Ventures

Housed at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, Vantage Ventures provides a bold new generation of entrepreneurs with a systematic and repeatable process to transform their world-changing ideas into scalable businesses. Vantage Ventures leverages its network of mentors, talent, capital allocators, academics, and committed industry partners, including entrepreneurs and the innovation engines of large companies, to forge a new path of economic growth. It is backed by globally influential technology leaders, Fortune Class companies, venture investors, and an unexpectedly cool R1 Institution. For more information, visit: https://vantageventures.io or follow Vantage Ventures on Twitter: @VantageWV, Instagram: @VantageVentures, and LinkedIn.

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Caliber Corporate Advisers
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SOURCE: Vantage Ventures