Scout

Scout is a college sports financial technology and advisory company operating through ELV8 Inc., an SEC-registered investment adviser that also provides the company's financial planning tools. The platform serves two connected audiences: athletic departments and the athletes within their programs. For schools, Scout offers an operations platform covering roster and budget planning, cap management (setting a cap and allocating it by position or individual player with real-time visibility), payment processing for per diems, bonuses and NIL payments, and automated approval routing intended to produce a compliance paper trail. The school-facing admin portal is branded Scout Command.

For athletes, Scout combines software with hands-on advisory support: tracking NIL earnings and payouts, building spending plans that adjust to variable income, assistance forming an LLC and opening business bank accounts, guidance on taxes, compliance and filing deadlines, deal evaluation, and one-on-one sessions with Scout's team of experts. The company describes a structured engagement model that begins with a guided platform demo for a program, followed by onboarding for athletes and staff that includes financial education and platform setup, and ongoing one-on-one access for athletes.

Investment management and advisory services are provided through ELV8 Inc.; the company discloses that these services are not FDIC insured, that investing involves risk of loss, and that it does not provide tax advice, and it publishes a Form CRS.

Founding story

The company's origin is attributed to Mike, whose father was a top-10 NFL Draft pick and lost nearly all of his wealth by retirement, prompting a long-standing question about why high earners in sports end their careers with little. He pursued that question through Columbia Business School and roles at Goldman and Lazard, and through managing money for athletes including Steph Curry and Michael Phelps, and saw the arrival of NIL in college sports as an opening to address it. He built Scout with Cindy, described as an immigrant and startup builder.

Business model

Scout sells a platform and accompanying advisory services to college athletic programs, which deploy it across their rosters; the site's calls to action are oriented to institutional demos ("Book a demo", "Schools we work with") for administrators, coaches and athletes. Alongside software for cap management, payment processing and approvals, Scout delivers financial education and one-on-one advisory support to athletes, with investment management and advisory services rendered by ELV8 Inc. as an SEC-registered investment adviser.

Traction

The website states Scout is trusted by more than 7,000 athletes across more than 30 schools, and lists 30+ school partners and 7k+ athletes on the platform. Named institutional relationships include the University of Louisville and Old Dominion University, whose deputy athletics directors provide partner testimonials.