Profluence
Founded 2023 · 115 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
Profluence is a sports-focused ecosystem combining a private community of founders, operators, and investors with growth advisory services and an investment platform. It serves people building sports businesses, offering networking, strategy consulting, and capital across sports, media, and human performance.
Also known as Profluence Capital · Profluence Sports
Founders & leadership
Profluence was founded in 2023 by Andrew Petcash.
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Profluence is a US-based platform for founders, operators, and investors in the sports industry, organizing its offering into three connected units: a private community, a growth advisory practice, and Profluence Capital, an investment arm. The company describes its structure as a flywheel in which media, community, intelligence, and capital reinforce one another. It is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The community arm operates an invite-style, vetted network with a member directory, private channels organized by vertical and stage, in-person events including quarterly meetups and summits held with partners such as IMG and PEAK, weekly virtual programming, and team-facilitated introductions. Members also receive proprietary databases (a sports investor directory covering 500+ active firms, an industry contact database, and market sizing and competitive intelligence reports), Profluence Academy on-demand courses and 100+ templates and playbooks, member-only intelligence briefs and deal-flow analysis, one-on-one growth sessions with the Profluence team, partner discounts stated as over $7,500 in annual value, an AI pitch deck analyzer, and a members-only web platform with iOS and Android apps.
The advisory unit provides strategic services to sports companies covering positioning, revenue growth, capital strategy, and partnerships, entered through a free growth diagnostic that grades a business across eight dimensions, and includes investor introductions. Profluence Capital invests at the intersection of sports, media, and entertainment across themes including sports participation, engagement and infrastructure, data and analytics, teams and leagues, media and entertainment, gaming, content, advertising, AI and distribution, the creator economy, human performance (fitness, wellness, recovery, nutrition, longevity), and experiences and lifestyle (events, hospitality, recreation, travel, consumer brands). It offers pre-qualified deal flow, portfolio access for LPs and founders, and published research.
Founding story
Profluence was co-founded by Andrew Petcash, an exited media founder and former Division I basketball player, and Scott Garber, an exited startup founder, sports consultant, and former Division I football player, with the stated aim of building the platform they wished existed for people creating, scaling, or funding businesses in sports.
Business model
Profluence operates a paid private membership community for sports founders, operators, executives, and investors, alongside a fee-based growth advisory practice for sports companies and an investment platform, Profluence Capital, that deploys fund capital into companies across sports, media, entertainment, and human performance. Membership, advisory engagements, and investment activity are presented as mutually reinforcing, with media reach and proprietary research supporting deal sourcing and member value.
Membership access to the private community and its resources, advisory engagements with sports companies, and an investment platform that manages fund capital with limited partner participation.
Traction
Company sources state a community of 1,300+ members, more than $117M raised collectively by members, 2,500+ posts and conversations, 300+ hours of content, 350+ research reports, 200,000+ media followers and subscribers, and a $50M Fund II. A third-party investor guide cites over 1,200 members.
Latest developments
Profluence Capital lists a $50M Fund II and reports 350+ research reports and 200,000+ media followers and subscribers. Third-party coverage notes recent Profluence publications on emerging sports leagues, Josh Harris's influence in sports, and 2026 sports business predictions, and the founders appeared on the Play the Game with Amar Shah podcast discussing sports startups and the rise of Profluence.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Profluence positions itself as a sports-sector-specific hub spanning community, media, research, advisory, and venture capital, differentiated from traditional venture firms by its emphasis on community and collaboration. Third-party coverage characterizes it as a venture capital organization dedicated to the sports industry.
The company combines a private sports-industry network, proprietary databases and research, educational content, advisory services, and investment capital under one organization, rather than offering any one of these alone. Its founding team is described as former Division I athletes and exited founders with venture, private equity, and M&A backgrounds.
Technology
Members access a private platform with a full-featured web application plus native iOS and Android apps offering the member directory, event RSVPs, Academy content, and push notifications. The community also provides an AI-powered pitch deck analyzer that scores decks slide by slide for structure, narrative, and investor readiness and benchmarks them against top-performing decks.
Go-to-market
Profluence acquires members through an invite-style, vetted community model supported by multi-platform media and newsletter distribution reaching a stated 200,000+ followers and subscribers, in-person events such as founder dinners, quarterly city meetups, and summits with partners including IMG and PEAK, and virtual programming. Advisory relationships begin with a free growth diagnostic scoring a business across eight dimensions, and the capital arm accepts pitch deck submissions and provides LP and founder access.
Founders, operators, executives, and investors building or funding businesses in sports, sports media, gaming, human performance, and related consumer and experience categories, primarily in the United States; also limited partners seeking exposure to sports-sector venture investments.
Geography
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, with a primarily United States focus per third-party coverage, a global membership base, and quarterly meetups in key cities.
History
The company describes creating a private platform for people building in sports and has since expanded into a three-part ecosystem of community, advisory, and capital, with Profluence Capital led by partner Dustin Drees, a former M&A banker and venture and private equity investor.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — 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 — not independently audited.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Profluenceprofluence.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Profluence do?
- Profluence is a sports-industry ecosystem combining a private member community, growth advisory, and a venture investment platform.
- Who founded Profluence?
- Profluence was founded by Andrew Petcash in 2023.
- Who are Profluence's investors?
- Profluence's investors include Courtside Ventures.