Recreation centers and campus facilities face increasing demand for programming and events, but the systems used to manage them are largely antiquated and in need of an overhaul. That’s where University of Illinois graduate and iVenture cohort 9 member Sean Chang comes in. Through his startup, DoubleSpot, he is giving recreation facilities a simpler, less time-intensive, and more sophisticated management system.

Recently, DoubleSpot announced a partnership with CENTERS LLC, a nationally recognized facility management firm supporting campus recreation, wellness, events, and community-serving spaces. Through the partnership, DoubleSpot has expanded its footprint to more than 10 states and gained operator insights from CENTERS’ managed portfolio of more than two million gross square feet.

Like many startups, Chang’s idea began with a problem he encountered firsthand. During the summer of 2022, he worked as a business strategy and analytics intern with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he helped support projects focused on the organization’s non-baseball revenue streams.

On game days, the Dodgers already had clear revenue streams: ticketing, concessions, merchandise, sponsorships, and parking. During his internship, Chang helped support business strategy work focused on what happened outside those 81 regular-season home games, exploring how Dodger Stadium could generate value on non-game days through camps, tours, concerts, rentals, and other programming.

The experience gave Chang a broader perspective on facilities. At Dodger Stadium, the question was how to create value beyond the 81 regular-season home games. When he returned to campus, he began seeing a similar challenge in recreation centers and campus facilities. These spaces were designed to support the full range of campus life, from classes, workshops, and community events to reservations, memberships, and rentals.

Yet many of the systems used to manage those activities were fragmented or outdated. Staff often had to coordinate programming, scheduling, registrations, and transactions across tools that were not designed to handle the full complexity of a modern recreation facility.

That connection became the foundation for DoubleSpot: if facilities were expected to support a wide range of activities year-round, they needed software flexible enough to manage all of them in one place.

That insight helped shape DoubleSpot’s early direction. In the summer of 2023, DoubleSpot was accepted into the iVenture Accelerator, where Chang and his team received $20,000 in support and connected with fellow entrepreneurs, mentors, and potential customers.

“iVenture brought us into a community where we could openly share the challenges we were facing,” Chang said. “When we were deciding whether to take a more traditional corporate path or keep building the startup, founders from previous cohorts were willing to share their experiences and help us think through that decision.”

Soon after iVenture, DoubleSpot was in a position for a real-world test case and sought facilities to run pilot projects. One partner that said yes to that was the Siebel Center for Design (SCD) on the Illinois campus.

“They were using legacy software to manage the facility,” Chang said. “We had to convince the building manager to move away from a familiar system they relied on every day.”

Through its partnership with DoubleSpot, SCD overhauled its outdated facility management system.

"DoubleSpot combines customization with a strong focus on the priorities of both managers and customers," said Nicholas Puddicombe, SCD’s Senior Associate Director of Operations and Experience. "They've built the platform using human-centered design principles, ensuring that the user journey is intuitive and enjoyable."

By replacing out-of-date software and integrating existing systems, DoubleSpot is giving organizations a simpler and less intensive workflow. It needs less training to hit the ground running and eliminates repetitive work. Less time engaged in programming software is giving operators more time back to what matters most to them – serving their communities.

Chang credits the University of Illinois network, including iVenture and the other arms of the Origin Ventures Office of Entrepreneurship, for giving DoubleSpot the ability to penetrate the market.

“For B2B software, trust is everything,” Chang said.  “The U of I network helped validate what we were building.”

Contacts like Origin Ventures Founding Partner Steve Miller continue to give the DoubleSpot team time and advice when called upon. Chang’s mentor, Dodgers Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Lon Rosen, has also continued to support his growth as an entrepreneur. Although entrepreneurship was not originally on Chang’s radar, those lessons continue to shape how he builds DoubleSpot.

The ability to be nimble and quickly build its credibility with an industry needing its modern solution has been a big reason DoubleSpot has taken off.

Through Maureen McGonagle, a fellow University of Illinois alumna, DoubleSpot began conversations with CENTERS LLC two years ago. In the last two years, DoubleSpot has added additional partners and checks in with each one every two months to see how they can improve the product to fit their individual needs.

DoubleSpot software is becoming more mature, and version 2.0 is on the horizon. The team, now at 10, is growing as well. The goal is for DoubleSpot to focus on the recreation management industry and build more credibility before expanding to other markets.

“I want to build a company that attracts great people who believe in what we’re building and align with our vision,” Chang said. “At the end of the day, the team determines the success of the company.”

That people-first approach also shapes how Chang builds relationships with clients.

“At the heart of it, we’re trying to build something people actually want,” Chang said. “That starts with spending a lot of time listening to customers, understanding their pain points, and building around those needs.”