Golfers may see a tee time, scorecard and competition as a simple digital experience, but behind the scenes, many clubs still depend on a patchwork of disconnected software. UK startup Paralo wants to change that. The company has raised £270,000 in an oversubscribed pre seed round to build an operating system for golf clubs while developing a connected digital product designed to make the golfer experience simpler.
Founder Led Funding Round
The funding round was led by angel investors, with £250,000 raised through the UK’s Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme. The tax efficient scheme is designed to encourage investment in qualifying early stage businesses.
Founded in 2026 by Jarrad Hicks and Zaheer Merali, Paralo is initially targeting golf clubs across the UK and Ireland.
The company plans to use the new capital to accelerate product and engineering development, continue deployments with early design partner clubs and build the infrastructure connecting club operations with its golfer facing product.
Paralo was valued at £3 million before the latest investment.
Tackling Golf’s Fragmented Technology
The startup is targeting a technology problem that it believes has been overlooked by much of the golf industry.
Golf clubs often rely on numerous software systems for different aspects of their operations. Membership management, tee sheets, competitions, payments, point of sale systems, food and beverage, marketing, reporting and agronomy can all be handled by separate products.
For golfers, the experience can be equally fragmented. Players may need multiple applications to arrange and manage a single round.
Paralo estimates that clubs can depend on more than 20 different software products to operate their businesses.
Building Infrastructure Beneath the Club
Rather than developing another standalone golf application, Paralo is attempting to create a common operating layer connecting the different functions of a club.
The platform is being designed to allow clubs to retain their own operating rules, identity and member experience instead of forcing them into a standardised model.
The founders believe technology should adapt to individual clubs rather than requiring clubs to adapt to technology.
Paralo’s connected golfer product is intended to work across clubs, competitions, societies and golf trips, creating a more unified experience for players.
Learning From Golf Clubs
The company says it spent months working directly inside golf clubs before developing its platform. The founders shadowed staff and mapped how different parts of club operations function in practice.
That process was intended to identify the underlying problems created by fragmented systems rather than simply adding another software layer to the existing ecosystem.
Co founder and CEO Jarrad Hicks said the company believes golf does not need another isolated app but instead needs infrastructure underneath the club and a product above it.
A More Open Golf Technology Market
Paralo is also building its strategy around greater interoperability and choice.
The company believes future golf technology should use more open technical standards, allowing clubs to select products based on how well they serve members rather than being locked into a single technology ecosystem.
However, access to certain golf infrastructure can be controlled by governing bodies. In England, technology providers seeking to connect to World Handicap System infrastructure require approval from England Golf.
Paralo says it is still awaiting access in England despite support from several leading clubs.
Early Deployment
Paralo is currently deploying its platform with one of the UK’s leading private golf clubs, which is working with the startup as an early design partner.
The founders bring experience from complex technology environments. Hicks previously worked in healthtech, including selling technology to hospitals, while Merali is a systems engineer with experience at Cisco and Webex.
With its new funding, Paralo aims to expand engineering capabilities and continue building the infrastructure that connects club operations with the golfer experience, starting with the UK and Ireland.
