by Jeroslyn JoVonn
December 13, 2024
Tyree Burks’ Players Health insurance raised an additional $60 million in Series C funding.
A Black-owned insurance startup catering to young athletes has secured an additional $60 million in 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 backing came from Mosaic General Partners, RPM Ventures, SiriusPoint, and TriplePoint Capital, the 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 broaden Players Health’s presence across the nation.
Founded in 2015, Players Health began as a platform to track injuries and allergies for youth sports athletes before expanding into insurance services for sports leagues. Over its nine years in operation, the company has onboarded over 5.5 million young athletes and boasts 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 teams nationwide. Players Health also offers insurance coverage for kindergarten through 12th-grade school athletes.
Raised by a single mother on the south side of Chicago, Burks credits sports with transforming his life, leading him to Winona State and, eventually, the Canadian Football League. However, a series of injuries disrupted his athletic career, which inspired him to explore ways to improve youth sports.
In 2012, Burks launched a sports communication app before transitioning to focus on player safety. To grow his company, he relocated from Chicago to Minneapolis to join an accelerator program hosted by Minnesota-based sports tech 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.
His current success came with initial setbacks and hurdles, including hiring a developer who didn’t deliver, raising money too early, and downplaying his mission in the early days.
“I was timid in the beginning—I didn’t want to be perceived as a heart-led leader who didn’t understand economics. Fundraising got easier when I went all in on the mission.”
As part of the investment, Walker Brumskine and Jake Harris from Bluestone Equity Partners will join the Players Health board of directors.
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