December 13, 2024
Tyree Burks’ Players Health Insurance raised an additional $60 million in Series C funding.
A black-owned insurance startup serving young athletes secured an additional $60 million in funding, bringing its total investment to $100 million.
Minneapolis-based Players Health secured its Series C funding from New York-based private equity firm Bluestone Equity Partners, which specializes in sports, media and entertainment.
Additional support came from Mosaic General Partners, RPM Ventures, SiriusPoint and TriplePoint Capital. St. Paul Business Journal reports.
Founder and CEO Tyree Burks shared that the funding will be used to enhance the company’s AI-powered products, pursue additional mergers and acquisitions, expand the team, and expand Players Health’s presence nationwide.
It was founded in 2015. Player health started as an injury and allergy tracking platform for youth sports before expanding to insurance services for sports leagues.In its nine years in business, the company has covered more than 5.5 million youth athletes and boasts a client list that includes the Orangetheory fitness franchise, American Youth Football organization and USA Softball, the national governing body for more than 150,000 softball teams across the country.Players Health also offers coverage for kindergarten through 12th grade school athletes.
Raised by a single mother on the South Side of Chicago, Burks credits sports for changing his life, leading him to Winona State and eventually the Canadian Football League.However, a series of injuries derailed his athletic career, inspiring him to explore ways to improve youth sports.
In 2012, Burks launched a sports communications app before switching to focus on player safety.To grow his company, he moved from Chicago to Minneapolis to join an accelerator program hosted by Minnesota-based sports technology company SportsEngine.
“I didn’t have a business model. I had an idea and I refused to give up,” Burks told Twin Cities Business in 2022.
Its current success has been accompanied by initial setbacks and obstacles, including hiring a developer who under-delivered by raising money too early and underestimating its mission in the early days.
“At first I was shy. I didn’t want to be seen as a big-hearted boss who didn’t understand economics. Fundraising became easier when I was fully involved in the mission.”
As part of the investment, Walker Brumskine and Jake Harris of Bluestone Equity Partners will join Players Health’s board of directors.
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