Nukleus has brought Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty on as an investor and the public face of its sports business platform ahead of a planned launch later this month. The Washington-based company is building what it describes as a career operating system for professional athletes and the network of professionals responsible for managing their businesses.
Nukleus is designed to replace the collection of emails, PDFs, spreadsheets and disconnected conversations commonly shared among an athlete’s agents, attorneys, accountants, financial advisors and marketing representatives.
Instead, the platform provides a shared system where everyone involved in an athlete’s career can work with the same information.
Founder and CEO Hector Rivas previously operated a sports agency, giving him exposure to the coordination challenges Nukleus is attempting to solve.
That experience also shaped the company’s AI infrastructure.
Nukleus has built a knowledge base incorporating collective bargaining agreements, athlete benefits and contract structures to support the professionals working on behalf of athletes.
The company’s business model allows athletes to join the platform for free.
Professionals including agents, CPAs, financial advisors, marketing agencies, lawyers, trainers and brand collectives pay subscriptions to manage their portion of the athlete relationship.
Nukleus’ leadership team also includes CTO Eric Ahlstrom, whose background includes ESPN, Microsoft and Oracle; Chief Creative Officer Ben Miller, formerly with University of Washington Football and CAA Sports; and CFO Matt Porter, previously Controller at Disruptive Sports.
Rivas previously led ThriftBooks to more than $150 million in annual revenue.
Jeanty’s investment gives Nukleus a high-profile athlete partner as it prepares to open the platform publicly.
KEY QUOTES:
“The athlete is the nucleus. Everyone around them, from agents and lawyers to brands and advisors, should be operating off the same information, not chasing it down separately every time something changes.”
“I’ve spent years around the business of sports, watching deals, data, and decisions get lost between people who know they’d be better off working together, but never had a way to actually do it. Nukleus is the system that keeps them on the same team.”
Hector Rivas, Founder and CEO of Nukleus
“Coming into the NFL, you become a CEO, directing a team of agents, advisors, and marketers, whether you’re ready or not. Nukleus is what finally gets them all on the same page, so I can actually run that team the way it should be run. That’s why I invested in it.”
Ashton Jeanty, Investor in Nukleus and Las Vegas Raiders Running Back
