LACES

THE FASHION BRAND FOR THE NIL ERA SELECTIVELY LOOKING FOR ATHLETE INVESTORS

LACES helps athletes build their brands and secure NIL deals by repping products that people actually want to wear. 

Over 450 college and NBA/NFL athletes like Steph Curry are wearing the brand already. The combination of LACES’ massive network of athlete ambassadors and its upcoming products give it a chance to be a household name.

Jeff Chu is a seasoned entrepreneur who’s previously raised from top-tier funds like A16z and Index Ventures.

Building on their current momentum, Jeff is looking for strategic professional athlete investors to grow with LACES in their next steps.


Jeff is looking for strategic investors to push the brand forward. If interested, he’s expecting you here.

Make sure to put Athletes & Assets™ Backstage Member in the Calendly description and background on yourself so he knows where you’re coming from.

THERMOCUFF

CONVECTION-BASED RECOVERY DEVICE RAISING SEED

ThermoCuff is a patented, portable convection based heating and cooling system.

Created by Dr. Sam Sabbahi and his team of engineers, ThermoCuff is 2.5x more effective than traditional methods of water circulating therapy treatments.

ThermoCuff uses convection to introduce or remove heat, eliminating the need for direct contact with hot/cold packs or water circulation systems, and is capable of sustaining exact temperatures and data collection for progression analysis.

Notable Investors: Hussein Elkousy, MD, Mufaddal M. Gombera, MD

You can find the deck here.


Dr. Sabbahi is closing his seed round soon, if you’re interested in learning more you can reach out to [email protected] (Dr.’s email) with subject line Athletes & Assets™ Backstage Member

BLOK

DISTRACTION PREVENTION TOOL LOOKING TO SPONSOR AN ATHLETE VIA SWEAT EQUITY

Daniel Belfort made Blok, a small hand-held device you can use to limit doom-scrolling.

Blok has early traction and Daniel’s looking meet athletes who share his vision of preventing social media addiction to be ambassadors for the product.

Daniel is taking in one athlete advocate to help push the brand forward. To connect with Daniel, reach out to him here. Please put Athletes & Assets™ Backstage Member in the Calendly description.

UNIVERSITY STARTUPS (TECHSTARS ‘22)

AI EDUCATION PLATFORM FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES RAISING SEED EXTENSION

University Startups uses Generative AI to empower students with disabilities with pathways to higher education or career success. 

Designed by Marc Steren and other top tier university professors and entrepreneurs, the programming ensures that school districts and states are in compliance with the federally mandated IDEA act.

Trinity is the generative AI transition planner for students with Disabilities.  Built in partnership with Amazon, this is one of the tools that builds an IEP so schools remain in compliance.

Notable Investors: Techstars, Tedco (The Maryland state Technology Fund), Marla Beck (founder of Blue Mercury), Dan Cohen, founder of Cornell Entrepreneurship Labs.

You can find the deck here

Marc and team have raised $2.8 million up to date and are looking for athlete investors and ambassadors to help inspire students with disabilities.

To learn more you can chat with Marc here and write A&A backstage member.

SHIFT GROUP

ATHLETE/VETERAN RECRUITING PLATFORM RAISING SEED

Shift Group trains and matches athletes & veterans with companies looking to hire them. Ex-athletes are outperforming traditional hires and companies are paying a lot to get first access. 

In just two years, JR Butler and Shift have helped over 2000+ athletes and veterans get hired at over 400 companies..

Shift has achieved over $1.5 million in subscription revenue in 2024 and slated for a breakout 2025.

Notable investors: Chris Reisig (Operating Advisor, Jungle Ventures), Brad Maltz (CTO Office, Dell), Jim Martindale (CEO, Navint), and more.

You can access the Shift Group deck here


Shift is finalizing their seed and looking for athlete-aligned angels. If you want an intro chat with JR, you can do so here and write A&A Backstage Member.

SETT

EQUITY-EARNING OPPORTUNITY IN HEALTHIER NICOTINE ALTERNATIVE

Sett is a consumer products company creating science-backed alternatives to nicotine for health-conscious and high-performing individuals, including many professional teams who have already placed orders.


Founded by Matt Wan, the former CEO @ Momentous and Justin Allen former COO @ Onnit.


Notable investors: JAZZ Venture Partners, OpenSky Ventures, Rob Dyrdek, Owners from the NBA, NFL, EPL and PGA, and more.

Here is the deck

[email protected] (CEO) is ready to give out nicotine-free pouch samples and potential equity-earning opportunities for athletes. Please reach out to him with subject line A&A Backstage to learn more!

KUHLER

HAND COOLING TECHNOLOGY RAISING PRE-SEED

Kuhler Technologies was founded by a former pro hockey player Braeden Ostepchuk and Brian Bradke, PhD former F-16 fighter pilot to develop on-demand cooling technology that lowers core temperature, mitigates fatigue, and increases exercise capacity.

Here is a simple explanation of how it works.

Kuhler is raising another $250k pre-seed bridge, almost half is closed, using SAFEs and Convertible notes, with the round ending on June 30th.

Investors currently have been the founders own capital and friends/family.

Here is the deck.

To chat with Braeden about the Kuhler and the opportunity, you can book a time directly here and write in A&A Backstage Member

CALODAR

MACRO TRACKING APP LOOKING FOR ATHLETE AMBASSADORS

Avner is building the easiest nutrition monitoring technology with Calodar.

With your iPhone camera you now can take a photo of your food, and Calodar’s AI patented technology can detect different amounts of protein, carbs, fat, and more.

It will also help you document and journal the nutrients. Avner is being advised by professional athletes such as Tim Johnson and would like to get more on board.

Calodar Fitness is now offering a limited release with select athletes and teams. Backstage members are invited to join for free here.

If you’d like to chat about being an athlete ambassador for Calodar, you can message [email protected] with the subject line A&A Member.

PLAIN SIGHT

EVENTS PLATFORM RAISING SEED ROUND

James Chapman at Plain Sight has built a platform for event hosts and sponsors to connect easily. Microsoft, GitHub, Amazon, and other global brands are now sponsoring events through them.

With $1M+ in revenue, 400+ events powered, and 50,000 attendees reached, Plain Sight is raising a $2M round.

Notable Investors include Dan Gilbert (Owner, Cleveland Cavaliers) Anne Duncan Ward (Co-Owner, Atlanta Dream), Jason White (Former CMO at MTV, Beats by Dre, and Fanatics), Elevate Ventures and Sixty8 Capital.

You can view the pitch deck here

James has a little allocation left, to speak with him please book a time here, and input in the subject line A&A member.

ARTISAN (YC W24)

THE VIRAL AI SALES REP RAISING SERIES A

Artisan is building human-like AI Employees starting with Ava, an AI sales rep that automates outbound.

Artisan is getting rid of entry sales reps. People in the Bay Area have seen their viral “Stop Hiring Humans” Campaign that drove millions in revenue.

The are on pace for $5 million ARR, and have recently announced their Series A led by Glade Brook Capital Partners, Y Combinator, HubSpot Ventures, and more.

The deck and investment memo can be found here (through Angel List).

This is another opportunity shared to us through a syndicate fund called Builders Capital. Andrew is giving us special access for Backstage Members to the some of best deals in Silicon Valley.

Please reach out to Andrew who runs the syndicate, [email protected] with the subject line A&A Backstage Platform.

PILLAR (YC S19)

The Linktree Killer

My friend Faisal is building Pillar, the ultimate Linktree killer…

All of you guys have a "link-in-bio" - but this is like "Shopify" for creators, athletes, and coaches. You can start an email list, build email automations based on follower interactions with content, and sell ANY digital product (downloads, guides, appointments, fan requests, memberships, etc.)

We use Pillar, click here for ours. So do the New England Patriots.

Pillar is backed by notable investors such as Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Jonathan Kraft (Kraft Group), Mike Gordon- President of Fenway Sports Group, and more.

You can access a deck here.

Pillar is looking to grow it's pool of athletes in its community - there are exciting opps (brand partnerships, ambassadors, allocation in equity rounds) - if interested, reach out to [email protected] with the subject line "A&A Member"

CORGI (YC S24)

AI-Operated Insurance Carrier Raising Series A (Invest through Syndicate)

Corgi is the first fully verticalized, AI-operated insurance carrier, automating the insurance industry at scale. They are on track for $40M ARR in 2025, uniquely positioned with exclusive regulatory approval.

Founders Nico Laqua, Emily Yuan previously built a game studio and publisher with 200M monthly players and 100 titles.

Corgi’s Series A is invested in by Y Combinator, SV Angel, Kindred Ventures, and more.

It’s a lengthy deal memo, but you can access here (through Angel List").

We are sharing this opportunity through a syndicate fund called. Builders Capital giving us special permission for Backstage Members.

If you want to learn more or meet the founders, please reach out to Andrew who runs the syndicate, [email protected] with the subject line A&A Member

HYTRO

IMPROVE PERFORMANCE AND RECOVERY THROUGH BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION

Hytro is pioneering patented wearable Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) to unlock human performance and recovery.

100+ professional athletes & coaches have invested in Hytro, and it’s used by over 200+ teams across the world. The technology is built for sport— but its potential goes far beyond that. Already flight proven by NASA and SpaceX, it’s unlocking real world applications on and off this planet, ready to scale in high growth markets.

Hytro is backed by both Venture Capital and athlete investors including Formula One Driver Yuki Tsunoda, Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber and Houston Texans’ Casey Toohill.

Hytro is looking to expand its US community with the involvement of US athletes. If you’re able to help and want to learn more directly, reach out to CEO & Co-Founder Raj at [email protected]

HYBRD (YC F24)

TRACK ALL YOUR TRAINING IN ONE PLACE

HYBRD (YC F24) is building an operating system for modern athletes. The apps breaks down the silos between your cardio, strength and wearable data to give you a complete view of your performance.

The team is ex-WHOOP, ex-US national rowing team, triathletes / ultramarathoners and are building the app that they wish existed during their training days.

Ben, Co-Founder/CEO of HYBRD, is offering a discount for our Backstage Members that do a user interview to talk about their training. Ping him at [email protected]

CLIK

THE FUTURE OF VIDEO CREATION

Conner and the team at Clik have built an AI-agent that eliminates half of the manual work in video editing. Creators simply upload footage, explain that video they want in a conversational manner, and get a rough cut of their video in seconds.

Focused on cooking creators to start, Clik has already partnered with Zach Neman and Nick Digiovanni.

Clik is raising a $2M pre-seed, and you can view info on the deck here

If interested, please reach out to Conner here.