Athlete To Athlete Raises $8 Million to Pair Youth Players With College-Athlete Mentors, Led by the Investors Behind SportsEngine and NCSA

Athlete To Athlete Raises $8 Million to Pair Youth Players With College-Athlete Mentors, Led by the Investors Behind SportsEngine and NCSA

Athlete To Athlete, which pays college athletes to mentor youth athletes in their sport over video, raised an $8 million Series A led by Rally Ventures. It says it has served 35,000 kids since 2023.

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The pitch is simple: a 12-year-old pitcher gets a college pitcher to talk to. Athlete To Athlete, a Santa Monica company that pays college athletes to mentor kids in their own sport over one-on-one video sessions, said Thursday it has raised an $8 million Series A to take that idea national.

Rally Ventures led the round, joined by Newbound VC, Scrum Ventures and UpHonest Capital, according to the company's announcement. The valuation was not disclosed.

Athlete To Athlete: 12- and 24-Week Programs With College Mentors

Families sign up for 12- or 24-week programs, and the mentor is a current college athlete who plays the same sport. The sessions are less about mechanics than about the rest of it: confidence, handling a bad game, what the recruiting process feels like from the inside. For the mentors it is paid work that fits around a college season, a quieter cousin of an NIL deal.

Co-founders Anthony Waller, the chief executive, and Zach Maisus, the chief operating officer, are former Division I athletes who met as lifting partners at UCLA and started the company in 2023. "Our focus is to develop these young athletes as people," Waller said in the announcement.

The Company's Numbers: 35,000 Athletes, Mentors at 300 Universities

Athlete To Athlete says it has served more than 35,000 youth athletes since launch, has mentors at more than 300 universities, has more than doubled every year, and expects to run more than 100,000 sessions in 2026. It also says more than 90 percent of parents report a more confident child. Those are the company's own figures and have not been independently audited.

Rally Ventures Brings the SportsEngine and NCSA Playbook

The names on the investor side are the story for anyone who follows the youth sports business. Rally's Justin Kaufenberg co-founded SportsEngine and ran it as chief executive. Operating partner Luke Zaientz co-founded Reigning Champs, the parent of the recruiting service NCSA. Youth Sports Business Report wrote that Waller sent Zaientz monthly updates for about 18 months before the deal came together.

The company said the money will go toward partnerships with youth sports organizations, athlete protections and national expansion. More on the business of kids' sports is on the BallerTube youth sports news page.