Photo Creds: Aescape acquires exclusive rights to Tom Brady’s longevity protocol.
Aescape & Tom Brady’s New Push Into Sports
AI, LLMs, and robotics have dominated Silicon Valley headlines. Founders have been racing to build, and investors are racing even faster to fund. The foundation-model bets are mostly placed - OpenAI, Anthropic, and a flood of application-layer AI startups. Now, vertical AI-robotic startups are soaking up capital.
Vertical AI hardware is already producing early winners in manufacturing & construction:
Figure AI → Raised a $1B Series C at a $39B valuation to build humanoid robots for warehouse tasks.
FieldAI → Raised $400M earlier this year to build bimodal & quadricep robots for construction sites.
But in other fields, AI hardware hasn’t broken through. And in sports? Almost nonexistent.
That’s why Aescape’s headlines last week - Tom Brady joining as Chief Innovation Officer (with TB12 folded in) and Logan Paul investing - matter more than celebrity optics. Aescape is the first real vertical AI hardware play in sports & wellness.
Vertical AI Hardware As Key Industry Infrastructure
Vertical AI hardware scales industries that are labor-constrained and margin-capped. Massage and recovery is exactly that:
The global massage therapy market: $18B+ annually.
The U.S. workforce: 350,000 massage therapists, but $4B in revenue is lost annually due to 29K+ unfilled therapist positions - high churn, inconsistent quality, capped supply.
Teams, gyms, hotels, and corporations spend millions annually on recovery - but it’s always a services model: one therapist, one body, one hour at a time.
At its core, Aescape is a high-tech massage table with dual robotic arms delivering personalized therapeutic routines:
Personalized 3D body scans → infrared sensors capture 1M+ data points to tailor every session.
Robotic arms (“Aerpoints”) → swappable flat or pointed heads replicate professional techniques.
Interactive touchscreen → users select programs and adjust pressure in real time.
Instead of charging per timed session, Aescape runs a B2B leasing model:
Gyms, hotels, and spas lease units for ~$5k/month (multi-year contracts)
Partners keep 100% of massage revenue ($60-150/session), meaning they can recoup investment in months, not years
The result?
Aescape not only fills the supply-demand labor gap, but it builds inherent cost AND data moats.
Cost moat: once hardware is in place, marginal cost per session ≈ $0 vs. $100-200/hr human labor.
Data moat: every session generates biometric + recovery data, this becomes a proprietary dataset on how bodies respond to recovery inputs - which were previously uncaptured.
Aescape’s Application in Sports
Player health is one of the most expensive line items in professional sports:
The NBA lost $400M+ in player salary to injuries last season.
In the NFL, one torn ACL can wipe out $20-40M in contract value and sink a season.
That’s before accounting for downstream losses in ticket sales, media rights exposure, and sponsorship.
This is why franchises pour millions into wellness staff, cryo chambers, Normatec boots, sleep scientists, and dieticians. The ROI logic is simple: extend a career by 2-3 years, or prevent one major injury, and the entire budget may pay for itself.
Aescape - with Tom Brady’’s longevity protocols - plugs directly into this logic:
Standardized, always-available recovery.
Lower marginal cost than hiring additional staff.
Predictive dataset over time: which routines reduce soft-tissue injuries, how recovery differs by age/position, what protocols extend careers.
For owners and GMs, this might not be wellness fluff. It’s insurance against losing stars.
Sports-Tech Market Activity: Investors & Deals
Funds
Buss Sports Capital, a new sports investment firm founded by Lakers execs Joey and Jesse Buss, launches (Sept. 24th)
Firm to target acquisitions and partnerships across global sports landscape
CAA Evolution tapped to lead transactions; EM Securities named banking partner [SBJ]
APEX Capital, an athlete-backed investment firm, receives Red Bull Ventures backing in ‘Elite Performance Fund’ close (Sept. 24th)
Finalizing fund, previously targeting $58.7M; Red Bull joins as strategic partner
Backers also include Giorgio Chiellini and Diogo Dalot; firm has backed 11 companies, including TMRW Sports, ScorePlay, and Output Sports, among others [SBJ]
Venture Capital
Smart ring maker Oura raises $875M in Series E funding at ~$10.9B valuation (Sept. 22nd)
Round would double valuation from $5B in Dec. 2024
Company has sold 5.5M rings to date, up from 2.5M in mid-2024; revenue projected to surpass $1B in 2025, up from $500M in 2024 [TechCrunch]
Joy 101, a personalized, multi-modality wellness app founded by former NBC co-anchor Hoda Kotb, raises funding from CapStone Holdings (Sept. 22nd)
App converted 40K sign-ups into 5K paying subscribers in first week, securing $2M in brand partnerships since launching in May 2025
Funding supports premium expert content, in-person events, and JoyFest 2026 [Capstone]
Moku, a Web3 gaming studio, commits $1M to launch 24/7 AI athlete fantasy platform ‘Grand Arena’ (Sept. 22nd)
$1M prize pool anchors first season; fantasy and prediction market
Backed by a16z Speedrun, Moku has powered 8M+ daily active users and $7B+ FDV across partner launches [geekmetaverse]
Le Walk, a mobile app offering immersive audio walking tours as virtual travel companions, raises $4.1M in Seed funding (Sept. 22nd)
Expanding to Versailles, Florence, Rome, with Barcelona and London next; tours available in 22 languages
Investment led by Adverb Ventures and Lerer Hippeau; other investors include Origins Fund and Point72 Ventures [FinSMEs]
Epic Padel, the US padel club operator with stakes in PPL and ‘New York Atlantics’, raises $10M in oversubscribed Seed funding (Sept. 23rd)
Funds will support the launch of 4-6 new clubs in Virginia, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and Utah, expanding beyond first North Carolina location
Investment led by NowaisWorld and Stryde Ventures; other investors include 305 Ventures, High Water VP, Lane Holdings, and Off Court Ventures, among others [Athletech]
League & Team Transactions
Patriots reportedly reach agreement to sell 8% stake, 49ers sell 3.2% stake to Fortress’ Pete Briger Jr., and Bears 2.35% stake sale approved by NFL (Sept. 24th–25th)
Patriots: Sixth Street and Dean Metropoulos acquire an 8% stake, at $9B+ valuation [SBJ]
49ers: Fortress Investment MP to acquire at $8.6B valuation, subject to NFL approval [SBJ]
Bears: NFL approves the 2.35% stake sale at the reported $$8.9B valuation [BleacherNation]
Apollo reportedly enters ‘advanced talks’ to acquire majority stake in Atlético Madrid at €2.5B valuation (Sept. 22nd)
Three-month exclusivity window to negotiate with club’s four shareholders, including Ares Management
Deal would make Atlético the most valuable privately owned Spanish team; Follows ALK’s Espanyol investment and CVC’s La Liga investment [SportsPro]
Tampa Bay Rays $1.7B sale to Patrick Zalupski-led group approved by MLB owners (Sept. 22nd)
Owners unanimously approved sale; expected to close this week
Stu Sternberg retains ~10% minority stake after 20 years of control; full divestment in the coming years, following purchase of $200M in 2004 [The Athletic]
SailGP adds Sweden’s ‘Artemis Racing’, a former America’s Cup contender, in reported $60M+ expansion (Sept. 19th)
Backed by billionaire Torbjorn Törnqvist, joins as newest franchise from 2026
Fees now exceed $60M, up from Italy’s $45M team valuation earlier this year
Deloitte oversaw tender attracting 35 expressions of interest, with 6–7 formal bids submitted [SportsPro]
USL, US soccer league and MLS competitor, sells minority stake to private investment firm BellTower Partners (Sept. 24th)
BellTower founder and ex-Carlyle CEO Kewsong Lee joins USL as vice chair
Follows USL’s announced plans to launch Division One men’s league (2028) with promotion and relegation - a first in US pro sports and globally standard model [SportsPro]
Minnesota Aurora FC, a USL W League club, adds Lynx execs Cheryl Reeve and Carley Knox as investors (Sept. 22nd)
Reeve (coach) and Knox (business ops president) join as private investors to support Aurora’s push toward pro, NWSL status
Club has 5.3K community investors and was a finalist for a 2026 NWSL expansion slot, ultimately awarded to Denver [SBJ]
Los Angeles Beat, a Pro Padel League franchise, acquired for $10M by David Eisen (Sept. 23rd)
Marks largest single-owner investment in PPL club since league’s 2023 founding
Eisen, managing partner at TEN, purchased team outright with no outside investors; follows recent PPL $10M Seed round led by Left Lane Capital [Sportico]
Goa Guardians, new indoor men’s Prime Volleyball League franchise, adds cricketer KL Rahul as co-owner (Sept. 23rd)
Season 4 debut joins PVL’s slate of televised and digital-first franchises
Matches run Oct. 2–26 streamed on YouTube to build national and global audience reach as move aims to give volleyball national recognition in India [LatestLY]
Sunshine Coast Lightning, a women’s Australian Super Netball franchise, acquired from Storm Group by sporting assets investor Global Sports Management (Sept. 22nd)
GSM will assume team’s license beginning Oct. 1, 2025; Storm Group to refocus investment on rugby league amid NRL men’s and women’s expansion
Follows GSM’s acquisitions of Ottawa BlackJacks and Newcastle Jets, signaling broader push into women’s and global sports [Netball Australia]
M&A and Investments
Allwyn, a global lottery operator, reaches deal to acquire 62.3% PrizePicks stake for $1.6B (Sept. 22nd)
Values PrizePicks at $2.5B, with potential earn-outs pushing valuation to $4.15B
Platform operates daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests in 45 US states, making it the largest DFS operator in North America [Sportico]
Fox reportedly in talks to join consortium acquiring TikTok’s US operations, Trump mentions Murdoch’s involvement (Sept. 22nd)
Consortium said to include Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Dell’s Michael Dell; ByteDance expected to retain 20% stake
Venture will see six American BOD members of a seven-person team; Oracle to become the trusted security provider [SportsPro]
PE firm Accel-KKR acquires majority stake in leading K-12 youth sports software provider Arbiter (Sept. 23rd)
Arbiter serves 3.7M+ families and thousands of schools with scheduling, registration, payments, and official assignment tools
Follows Arbiter’s recent rSchool Today and BigTeams acquisitions [YSBR]
GRID, an esports game data platform, acquires B2B esports data company Bayes Esports’ assets following insolvency (Sept. 19th)
Includes Bayes’ IP assets: live data trading tools, prediction models, and fan engagement tech
Assets to be integrated into GRID Bet, its regulated esports betting solution, enhancing odds accuracy and bet settlement [EsportsInsider]
Brera Holdings, a multi-club soccer ownership group, raised $300M to launch ‘Solmate’, a Solana-based digital asset treasury (Sept. 19th)
$300M private placement backed by UAE’s Pulsar Group, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, Solana Foundation, and RockawayX
Marks rare pivot from sports club ownership into crypto infrastructure, positioning UAE as a Solana hub [IBD]
Chiliz Group, a sports-focused blockchain platform, acquires 51% of European pro esports organisation OG Esports (Sept. 16th)
$OG fan token recently surpassed $100M market cap on Chiliz’s Socios.com blockchain platform
Follows Chiliz’s prior esports collabs with NiP and Team Heretics, cementing fan tokens as core engagement tool [EsportsInsider]
ElevenLabs, an AI voice synthesis startup, secures strategic investment from NVIDIA, following launch of AI music platform ‘Eleven Music’ (Sept. 23rd)
Valued at $6.6B after recent $100M tender; expanding NVIDIA partnership; follows previous Series C raise of $180M at $3.3B valuation (Jan. 2025)
ElevenLabs has signed licensing deals with Merlin and Kobalt, setting it apart from rivals Suno and Udio, facing copyright lawsuits [MBW]
SEGG Media, a global S&E and gaming group, to acquire women’s motorsport training program Racing Women assets at $1M valuation (Sept. 24th)
Subsidiary Sports.com Media Group will take 51% control of new entity holding Racing Women’s IP and global rights; options for SEGG for full ownership expansion [DigitalJournal]
Arcade Media, the manager of YouTuber collective The Sidemen, sells minority stake to media production company Lumina for global expansion, brand-creator partnership developments (Sept. 22nd)
Funds to accelerate Sidemen’s growth across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia
With 130M+ YouTube subscribers, group now operates a ‘nine-figure business’ - underscoring how creator collectives are rivaling traditional media companies [FT]
Photo Creds: Oura raises $875M in funding at an $11B Valuation.
Strategic Ventures
Aescape, an AI-powered massage startup, acquires Tom Brady’s recovery and pliability protocols, adds him to C-suite as Chief Innovation Officer (Sept. 23rd)
Exclusive rights to elite athlete recovery IP acquired, integrating them into Aescape’s robotics-AI platform; Brady’s business partner Alex Spiro becomes company’s strategic advisor [Athletech]
PrizePicks secures first-ever DFS-affiliate FCM registration from the National Futures Association (NFA) (Sept. 23rd)
Subsidiary Performance Predictions II, now authorized to handle futures contracts on CFTC-regulated markets
Designation reinforces consumer protection programs, aligning with CFTC’s pro-innovation regulatory stance [PrizePicks]
NFL’s KC Chiefs taps sports monetization company Playfly Sports for multi-year UK & Ireland sponsorship sales deal (Sept. 24th)
Makes Chiefs the first NFL team to use Playfly for international sponsorship sales
Playfly’s UK-based team will build category-specific activations, using proprietary data to track fan engagement and ROI [Playfly]
Men in Blazers, an independent soccer media network, launches Hispanic-focused streaming platform ‘Vamos’ for US-based fans (Sept. 22nd)
Also acquires soccer podcast The Give N Go; featuring multiple weekly shows
Launch complements network’s women’s soccer platform, The Women’s Game, expanding niche audience strategy [SBJ]
Betr, a sportsbook and fantasy app, adds Ball brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo as equity partners and podcast hosts (Sept. 18th)
Ball brothers to relaunch podcast under Betr Media, producing 40 episodes annually, blending sports, culture, and music
Leverages Lonzo’s status as a ‘top-5’ most-followed NBA player to boost user acquisition for Betr Picks and Betr Arcade [Betr]
Matchroom Boxing, a UK-based boxing promoter, partners with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports International for US expansion focus (Sept. 25th)
Deal complements US presence and its $1B DAZN broadcast deal through 2026
Roc Nation serves as strategic partner, focusing on cultural integration, storytelling, and media amplification [SportsPro]
Camb.AI, a speech-to-speech AI translation startup, partners with F2P mobile soccer game World League Live (Sept. 23rd)
Covers 150 languages, enabling WLL fans worldwide to interact with sports icons in real time
Backed by $18.5M in funding from Comcast NBCUniversal and Courtside Ventures; works with MLS, Ligue 1, NASCAR, and the Australian Open [GamesBeat]
Ekkobar, a social media insights startup serving sports and entertainment clients, launches sponsorship-matching tool ‘MIRA’ to power NIL matches (Sept. 22nd)
MIRA co-developed with NBC Sports via Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech accelerator; unveiled at TED Sports
Tool cuts NIL talent matching from weeks to seconds; having driven 4x increase in deal flow for partners [SBJ]
Paris Saint-Germain Esports and French pro esports organization Team Vitality launch EA FC collaboration (Sept. 18th)
Forming joint roster PSG.Vitality, for EA FC 2025-26, headlined by French stars
Partnership combines PSG’s football IP and Vitality’s esports dominance (15 titles, 10M+ fans), aiming for eLigue 1 and global titles; Players to train at PSG Studio [PSG]
LaLiga taps TikTok in partnership renewal, adds Melia Hotels in MENA region (Sept. 19th)
TikTok to remain the league’s lead short-form content partner; Hotels will activate co-branded Dubai experiences, with brand visibility on LaLiga broadcasts
Deal builds on LaLiga’s Saudi partnerships (Riyadh Season, Thmanyah) and new Riyadh office, deepening its MENA footprint [SportCal]
Job Board & Opportunities: Week of September 26th
Here are some cool roles we found and personally curated this week - enjoy!