# Joe Chin

> Joe Chin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sparrow, a New York-based sports AI startup using edge AI and computer vision to analyze athletic motion in real time. A 4x serial entrepreneur with 22+ years of leadership experience and three prior exits, Joe built Sparrow around a simple observation: golfers forget lessons the moment they leave the range. Sparrow's flagship golf app has helped 250,000+ golfers analyze their swing against a dataset of 1 million pro golf data points, delivering instant, personalized feedback via smartphone. The company has raised $8.27M in total funding and is expanding into soccer, basketball, and other major sports.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Sparrow
- **Organizations:** Sparrow, Searchandise (acquired by RichRelevance), SourcePad, Hughes Aircraft
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science (BS), Columbia University - Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Master of Science (MS), UC Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded Sparrow, which has grown to 250,000+ golfers using the AI swing analysis app, Raised $8.27M total funding including a record-breaking $5.7M pure angel round, Won 'Most Valuable Company' at Keiretsu Forum, the world's largest angel investor network

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Engineer at Hughes Aircraft, designing multi-million dollar satellites
- **Pre-2011** — Founded Searchandise (originally Guidester) as CEO
- **2011** — Searchandise acquired by RichRelevance
- **Post-2011** — Founded and led SourcePad as CEO
- **2018** — Co-founded Sparrow in May 2018
- **2019** — Sparrow raises $1.8M seed round from Fortune 500 executives and sports icons
- **2021** — Sparrow Golf app launches publicly in January; featured in Forbes
- **2022** — Sparrow raises record-breaking $5.7M pure angel round; wins Most Valuable Company at Keiretsu Forum
- **2024** — Sparrow Golf reports 85% revenue growth year-over-year for golf season; 250,000+ users
- **2026** — Sparrow launches equity crowdfunding campaign targeting $3M+ at $34.9M pre-money valuation

## Achievements

- Co-founded Sparrow, which has grown to 250,000+ golfers using the AI swing analysis app
- Raised $8.27M total funding including a record-breaking $5.7M pure angel round
- Won 'Most Valuable Company' at Keiretsu Forum, the world's largest angel investor network
- 4x serial entrepreneur with 3 prior successful exits/acquisitions
- Raised over $20M across all ventures
- 22+ years of leadership experience including three IPO/M&A exits
- Attracted professional golfers Harold Varner III, Martin Laird, and Brittany Lincicome as investors and brand ambassadors
- Grew Sparrow to 66 employees and $2.4M annual revenue
- Delivered 85% year-over-year revenue growth for golf season 2024
- Former Columbia University football player who won the Junior Heisman award
- Secured Sparrow's technology via multiple patents and trademarks (2 granted, more pending)

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Sparrow launches equity crowdfunding campaign targeting $3M+ at $34.9M pre-money valuation, minimum investment $100
- **2024-05** — Sparrow Golf app version 1.6.22 released; app now has 250,000+ users
- **2024-04** — Sparrow reports 85% year-over-year revenue growth for golf season
- **2022-12** — Sparrow raises record $5.7M pure angel round; wins Most Valuable Company at Keiretsu Forum

## Links

- Website: https://sparrowup.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-chin-b221a1218
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sparrowgolfapp
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sparrowgolf/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sparrowvision/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joe-chin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-30