Fanstake
2 known investors
Fanstake is a platform focused on college sports that lets fans influence and support their teams while helping college athletes earn fair-market value through NIL (Name, Image, Likeness). It serves college sports fans, athletes, coaches, and collectives in the United States.
Also known as Fanstake, Inc.
Investors Β· 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Fanstake operates a competitive recruitment platform for U.S. college athletics in which fans pool money behind individual athletes to fund Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) endorsement deals. Fans select a school and "stake" any dollar amount on a recruit, transfer portal athlete or current player they want to see on that team in the following season. The amount is locked until the athlete makes a school decision. If the athlete enrolls and joins the roster of the staked school, the stake converts and funds an endorsement contract; if the athlete goes elsewhere or declines the endorsement, the stake is returned to the fan's account as credit, which can be redirected to another athlete or withdrawn to the original payment source less payment processing fees. Stakes run for one season or school year, after which a player has an open "retention" stake while competing fanbases may run "transfer" stakes against the same athlete.
The company frames the mechanism as establishing transparent fair-market value in advance of an athlete's decision, with the actual NIL contract offered only after a decision is made and payments beginning once the athlete is enrolled and on the roster. Fanstake positions itself as an alternative to the concentrated funding of wealthy donors and collectives, arguing that fan participation can offset revenue-sharing costs at larger programs and give schools outside the power conferences a way to compete. Alongside staking, the platform has been building engagement and gamification features, including fan prediction "takes," a "Fan DNA" fan profile score, private group "Huddles," head-to-head games between fans of different schools with NIL opportunities at stake, and tiered credential rewards ranging from merchandise discounts and gift cards to game tickets and memorabilia.
Fanstake, Inc. is described by a data provider as a San Francisco, California-based software company established in 2024, offering a mobile application in addition to its web platform.
Founding story
Fanstake was founded by longtime friends and colleagues who describe themselves as fans and former players, and who previously held senior executive roles at LinkedIn, Headspace, Guild and other technology platforms. Co-founders Greg Glass (CEO), Alex Boisvert and Donnie Flood previously led the adtech company Bizo, which LinkedIn acquired in 2014 for $175 million. The team says it built Fanstake in response to imbalances in college athletics, including athletes bearing injury and career risk while others captured the economics, and viewed NIL as a first step that could be extended at the grassroots level.
Business model
Fans pay Fanstake for its services rather than paying athletes directly; the payment is neither a donation nor a direct athlete payment. Fanstake procures and structures endorsement deals with athletes using the fan-established amounts as a reference for fair market value. The company takes 0% of unconverted stakes and typically around 6.99% of converted stakes, with athletes typically receiving at least 90% of the staked amount and 3%+ allocated to teammates and/or non-profits; the fee is waived entirely if an athlete directs proceeds to registered philanthropic organizations. Fanstake states it is a Pledge 1% member, giving 1% of profits to philanthropic education organizations.
Service and platform fees on converted stakes, stated as typically around 6.99% of the converted amount and varying by the specifics of each endorsement; fees are described as covering engineering and operational costs, marketing to national fanbases, and personnel dedicated to procuring endorsement deals. Payment processing fees are charged only when a fan withdraws funds back to the original payment source.
Traction
As of April 2025, Fanstake had created pages for hundreds of athletes, including all Division I football and men's and women's basketball players, and roughly 18,000 users had offered nearly $500,000 in aggregate. In one recruitment, Louisville backers offered a combined $88,000 for basketball recruit Nate Ament, while Tennessee supporters contributed $13,405, which Ament received after committing to Tennessee. The company's website displays a staked total counter of $10,450,000.
Latest developments
In April 2025 Fanstake announced $6.25 million in seed funding led by Courtside Ventures and said it was entering a next phase of development focused on gamification, including rewards that accrue as users offer athletes more money. CEO Greg Glass framed the opportunity as expanding the donor base for college programs beyond high-net-worth alumni to broader fanbases. Public site material also shows engagement features such as fan prediction takes, Fan DNA scoring, Huddles group spaces, fan-versus-fan games with NIL opportunities, and tiered rewards.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Fanstake describes itself as a competitive recruitment platform operating in the NIL segment of college sports, positioned against traditional collective fundraising and the concentration of NIL funding among high-net-worth alumni and donors. Investor Courtside Ventures said it had reviewed roughly 100 NIL opportunities over four years before making Fanstake its first direct NIL investment, citing the founders' prior experience.
The staking model is conditional and refundable: fans only pay if the athlete joins or stays at their chosen school, and unconverted stakes are returned as account credits, which the company characterizes as risk-free participation. Fans can stake any athlete regardless of whether their school is recruiting that player, and the aggregated offers publicly expose fair-market demand before an athlete commits. The company also emphasizes low take rates and states athletes receive over 90% of staked amounts.
Technology
A web platform and mobile application that hosts per-athlete staking pages, locks and escrows fan contributions until a commitment decision, automatically returns unconverted stakes as account credits within ten days of a confirmed decision, and manages the resulting NIL endorsement contracts and payouts. Engagement layers include a computed "Fan DNA" score derived from user events (accuracy, insight, temperament, engagement, loyalty), prediction and rating mechanics, private group chat "Huddles," head-to-head fan matchups and a tiered credential/rewards system.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-fan acquisition through team- and athlete-specific pages, with pages created for hundreds of athletes including all Division I football and men's and women's basketball players so fans can stake anyone regardless of whether their school is actively recruiting the player. The company uses athlete ambassadors β Tennessee commit Nate Ament signed as its first basketball ambassador and will receive converted stake funds in exchange for promoting Fanstake online β and maintains dedicated sections for schools and brands. Retention and engagement are pursued through gamification, rewards tiers and social features.
College sports fans and fanbases, college athletes (recruits, transfer portal athletes and current players across Division I football and men's and women's basketball), college programs and schools, brands, and collectives.
Geography
United States; the platform covers U.S. college athletics, including all Division I football and men's and women's basketball programs. A data provider lists the company's location as San Francisco, California.
History
A data provider lists Fanstake, Inc. as established in 2024 and based in San Francisco, California, founded by CEO Greg Glass with co-founders Alex Boisvert and Donnie Flood. The company raised a $3 million pre-seed round in November 2024, co-led by Susa Ventures and Will Ventures, to launch and operate its NIL platform, and by 2024 offered a mobile application in addition to its website. In April 2025, Sportico reported a $6.25 million seed round led by Courtside Ventures, with the company then adding gamification elements such as rewards that accrue as users offer players more money.
Risks & controversies
The model operates in an unsettled regulatory and legal environment: the company itself notes ongoing NCAA legal exposure, a patchwork of state NIL laws, federal antitrust challenges and uncertainty around the House settlement and revenue sharing, which it argues will create disparities between power-conference schools and the rest of Division I. Fanstake addresses "pay-for-play" criticism directly, arguing its mechanism exposes fair-market value in advance of an athlete's decision and that no NIL deal is offered until after a commitment. Operationally, staked funds are locked and cannot be withdrawn from a stake before a decision, refunds are issued as account credits, and payment processing fees are non-refundable when money is returned to the original payment source. Conversion also depends on the athlete choosing the staked school and agreeing to the endorsement, and athletes are not obligated to select the highest stake. Separately, an unaffiliated Miami-based company operating fanstake.io publishes under a similar name.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 3
launches, deals, and filingsFanstake raised $6.25 million in seed funding led by Courtside Ventures, with participation from Will Ventures, Susa Ventures, Scrum Ventures, Myriad Ventures and Alumni Ventures, to continue building its NIL crowdfunding platform. Courtside described it as the firm's first directly NIL-related investment.
$6.3M source β
Tennessee commit Nate Ament signed as Fanstake's first basketball ambassador. Louisville backers had offered a combined $88,000 for Ament, while Tennessee-aligned Fanstake users contributed $13,405, which Ament will receive in exchange for promoting Fanstake online.
Fanstake raised USD 3 million in pre-seed funding, co-led by Susa Ventures and Will Ventures, to support the launch and operation of its NIL platform for fan-influenced college athlete recruitment and retention.
$3M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- About Fanstakefanstake.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Fanstake do?
- Fanstake is a college sports platform where fans crowdfund conditional NIL endorsement offers to recruit and retain athletes.
- Who are Fanstake's investors?
- Fanstake's investors include Bantam Group, Courtside Ventures.