South Africa-founded golf management startup Tagmarshal has secured a multi-million dollar Series A funding round, aimed at scaling its operations, driving product innovation, and broadening its client base in the United States and beyond. The company’s technology, designed to address golf courses’ common operational challenge of managing pace of play, provides operators with real-time data insights to optimize course flow, improve player experiences, and boost revenue.
Originally founded in Cape Town, Tagmarshal has achieved significant growth since it was first reported by Disrupt Africa in 2015. The company relocated its headquarters to the United States, where it quickly gained traction as a leading provider of golf course optimization technology. Tagmarshal’s SaaS platform integrates small GPS-enabled tags that monitor player movement across courses, helping operators manage play flow and increase efficiency through automation. This capability has proved highly attractive to U.S. courses, with the company now partnering with 40 of the top 100 courses in the country, alongside a range of private, daily-fee, public, and resort courses.
Tagmarshal’s real-time management system addresses a widespread issue in the golf industry: slow play. By offering operators an efficient way to monitor and adjust course flow, Tagmarshal enables golf courses to enhance the player experience, reduce operational costs, and unlock additional revenue opportunities.
“The past 12 months have seen a surge in interest in Tagmarshal’s optimization technology as golf continues to grow in popularity,” said Bodo Sieber, CEO and co-founder of Tagmarshal. “Operators are increasingly looking to technology as a solution to maximize capacity while ensuring the quality of the player experience. This latest funding round underscores investor confidence in Tagmarshal’s model, and we’re excited to use this capital to further innovate and expand our reach.”
Tagmarshal’s Series A funding round comes during a period of growth for the company, which saw a 57% revenue increase in 2024, driven by strong demand and new client acquisitions. The company plans to use the new capital to build out its team, invest in research and development, and expand its presence in the U.S. market.
Since its initial launch at the 2015 PGA Golf Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida, Tagmarshal has grown from a bootstrapped startup in South Africa to an established player in the U.S. golf technology market. The company’s client list spans a variety of courses, from high-end facilities to those charging $40-$60 per green fee, all of which report improvements in play speed, course utilization, and profitability.
Tagmarshal first attracted investor support in 2016 with a European-led angel round, followed by an additional funding round that saw support from investors including Christian Vollmann, a Berlin-based entrepreneur and investor, as well as other South African and European backers. These early rounds enabled Tagmarshal to solidify its product and build out a customer base in the United States.