by Jeroslyn JoVonn
December 13, 2024
Tyree Burks' Players Health Insurance raised another $60 million in Series C funding.
A Black-owned insurance startup that serves young athletes has secured $60 million in additional funding, bringing its total investment to $100 million.
Minneapolis-based Players Health secured its Series C funding with a lead investment from New York-based Bluestone Equity Partners, a private equity firm specializing in sports, media and entertainment.
Additional support came from Mosaic General Partners, RPM Ventures, SiriusPoint and TriplePoint Capital, the St. Paul Business Journal reports.
Founder and CEO Tyree Burks said the funds will be used to improve the company's AI-powered products, pursue additional mergers and acquisitions, expand the team and expand Players Health's footprint across the country.
Players Health was founded in 2015 as an injury and allergy tracking platform for young athletes and then expanded into insurance services for sports leagues. In its nine years of operation, the company has recruited over 5.5 million young athletes and has a client list that includes boutique fitness franchise Orangetheory, the American Youth Soccer Organization and USA Softball, the national governing body for over 150,000 softball athletes. Teams across the country include. Players Health also offers coverage for athletes in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Burks, who was raised by a single mother on the south side of Chicago, credits sports with changing his life, leading him to Winona State and ultimately the Canadian Football League. However, a series of injuries interrupted his athletic career, which inspired him to look for ways to improve youth sports.
In 2012, Burks launched a sports communications app before focusing on player safety. To grow his business, he moved from Chicago to Minneapolis to participate in an accelerator program at Minnesota-based sports technology company SportsEngine.
“I didn’t have a business model. I had an idea and refused to give up,” Burks told Twin Cities Business in 2022.
Its current success has come with initial setbacks and hurdles, including hiring a developer who didn't deliver, raising money too early, and downplaying its mission in the early days.
“I was shy at first – I didn't want to be seen as a leader who was led by the heart and didn't know anything about business. Fundraising became easier when I became fully committed to the mission.”
As part of the investment, Walker Brumskine and Jake Harris of Bluestone Equity Partners will join Players Health's board of directors.
RELATED CONTENT: How Olympic Gold Medalist Sanya Richards-Ross Is Helping Black Moms Through Mommi Nation