There were some initial hesitations around Unrivaled’s 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, but that has not stopped it from attracting notable investors.

Unrivaled is a startup founded in 2023 by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, its business model is unprecedented, offering the highest salaries in women’s sports and granting participating players an equity stake in the league. Its concept has proven to be a success among its players.

“Everybody got equity coming into this league, that’s the most important thing…I know five years from now this thing is gonna be bigger than ever,” Angel Reese from Unrivaled’s Rose BC team shared during a virtual press conference held in January.

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The potential of Unrivaled was not understood by all. In fact, Collier recalls receiving various “no’s” during the league’s inception.

“It was hard because you think the same thing like, ‘Oh, I’m an athlete, why wouldn’t you want to do this?’ It’s such a great idea. The business plan is so rock solid. We have the players, we have this amazing idea, but startups are really hard,” Collier, who also plays with the league’s Lunar Owls, explained to AFROTECH™ during an interview held at the Wayfair Arena in Medley, FL. “You have to get people who are bold enough, brave enough to do it and believe in what you’re doing. And especially when it’s a new concept, it’s not like this has never been done before. They have no idea what to expect. So it is hard in the beginning. You’re trying, people are writing big checks. It’s a lot of money. When you’re dealing with that, people like a sure thing. And this is not a sure thing. It’s a startup. That’s not what startups are.”

She added, “It was hard in the beginning, but again, once we got that buy-in and we got those first couple players, then we could start using names like this person is attached. Then we got more players.”

Unrivaled has since onboarded 36 players across six teams, including Allisha Gray (Lunar Owls BC), Aliyah Boston (Vinyl BC), Brittney Griner (Phantom BC), and Kate Martin (Laces BC). It has also attracted several notable athletes as investors in the league.

Investors include Olympic gold swimming medalist Michael Phelps, Milwaukee Bucks player Giannis Antetokounmpo, and tennis star Coco Gauff, among others. Now the league has announced Golden State Warriors player Stephen Curry has been added to this list.

“I am incredibly proud to be joining the Unrivaled family as the league continues to set a new standard for how women’s professional sports should operate—empowering athletes and ensuring they have a real stake in their own success,” Stephen Curry said in a press release. “Unrivaled is not just innovating the way we play basketball, but also how we value and invest in the athletes who drive the game forward.”

Unrivaled has secured $35 million since its inception, which includes a $28 million Series A round in December 2024. In addition, the league has also landed partnerships with big name companies like Samsung, the official technology partner of Unrivaled.

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“Not only is it obviously great to invest in women’s sports, but investing in women’s sports is not a charity. This is also a profitable, equitable opportunity for people. And so I think they see the value in that,” Collier commented.

Samsung

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