LINEUP
1. Marketplace Updates 📈
2. New Partner ⚡️

3. Aura Farming for ŌURA 💍
4. Business Manager Is The New Agent 👔

MARKETPLACE
Updates

Company Updates

- New batch of CPG and Tech Companies listed
- Thank you to all the real estate folks for the inquires. We will get back to all of you as soon as possible.

athletesandassets.com/opportunities

Product Updates

- We are working on a “request free sample option” for companies to easily ship products to an athlete/rep’s address.

Almost any company with a physical product or good is going to be requested to provide free samples before anyone comes to terms (so if you’re a founder, be ready)

- We built a set of internal tools where we can track companies who need help listing or adjusting their profile accordingly!

PILLAR
Our 2nd partnership…

Yeaaaa buddy… Thrilled to announce our latest partnership with Pillar!

We’ve seen many athletes and their business teams spend $10,000+ on overly complicated websites with dozens of tools in order to:

- Maintain brand with a personal website
- Track their social media analytics
- Push partnerships to their audience

and more

The reality is athletes are optimizing their off the field presence as early as high school now (and if you're Baby Gronk, well, even earlier). It's important to have a central hub to maximize content, community, and securing partnerships with companies even if your Mom or agent runs your account.

Comment "A&A" on this post and I will DM you a special link that generates a personalized online store with just your Instagram handle 👀

OURA

A group of athletes got the supermax today…

ESPN won't announce this, but a group of athletes made supermax money today. Nope, they didn't sign with a new team. They actually took a small bet on three Finnish entrepreneurs a couple years ago...

In 2013, a startup called ŌURA started building a wearable ring that helps the average consumer easily track their health metrics and sleep data. The team built up solid momentum and completed successful clinical studies a couple years later. However, thoughts around brand positioning and target users were still in question.

In 2018 during their $20 million Series A, the team convinced Shaquille O'Neal, Lance Armstrong, and a couple other professional athletes that their ring would capture the appetite of health conscious individuals across the globe.

Safe to say their investment paid off. With over $1 billion in revenue expected to be surpassed in 2025, it was announced this week that ŌURA is raising their $875 million Series E at an $11 billion valuation.

I am sure both sides had full belief in one another, but I am not sure founders Petteri Lahtela, Markku Koskela, and Kari Kivelä realized how impactful the athletes on the cap table would be. I also wonder how Shaq and Lance thought their investment would track back in 2018.

ŌURA is a bonafide example of how bringing sports influence to the cap table alters the trajectory of a company, even if the product is NOT marketed towards athletes. Athletes influence mindshare and purchasing decisions across various categories. While venture funding is important for certain types of businesses, it's notable athletes on the cap table that unlock opportunities institutions simply can't.

Today, athletes are curious and financially stable enough to take chances on companies outside their domain. The next ŌURA story is developing in real time. A positive sum game everyone wants to play.

If only there was a central location to play the game…

MUST WATCH

Get a Business Manager…

Michael Jordan’s Agent David Faulk: “70% of NBA players don’t need an agent anymore. They need a business manager. Someone who is fighting for them off the court.”

Some of our very first users have been business managers. Agencies are evolving in real time. And whether they realize it or not, they are ahead of the curve. So what we do is empower them through… you guessed it, equity :)