Chris Paul Invests in Greenfly: NBA All-Star Backs Digital Media Startup

Greenfly Secures $8.4 Million Investment with Chris Paul as Strategic Partner

A new investor has joined Greenfly’s latest funding initiative: Chris Paul, point guard for the Phoenix Suns, has become a strategic investor and partner within the company. Greenfly specializes in digital media flow management software.

Investment Details and Background

Paul’s contribution is part of an $8.4 million strategic growth round. Additional investors include Verance Capital, Higher Ground Labs, DD Venture Capital, SW19 Ventures, LinkinFirm, and Allievo Capital. Existing investors – Go4it Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, Alpha Edison, and Iconica Partners – also participated.

To date, Los Angeles-based Greenfly has raised over $23 million since its founding in 2014. The company was established by former Major League Baseball All-Star Shawn Green and his cousin, Daniel Kirschner.

The Genesis of Greenfly

Green and Kirschner identified a growing need within organizations – such as sports teams, political entities, and consumer brands – to effectively distribute media in real-time as social media drove revenue. Kirschner noted that Green recognized the potential for a streamlined media studio during his playing career, when providing timely feedback on significant moments proved challenging.

Chris Paul’s Early Adoption and Vision

Chris Paul, a celebrated 11-time National Basketball Association All-Star, was an early adopter of the Greenfly platform. He utilized it to share content across his social media channels after games. However, Paul also realized the value of the content stored on his personal devices, like game photos, and the need for a system to easily access and correlate this content with ongoing events.

He describes Greenfly as providing “instant access to a media gallery” for seamless sharing on social media. He was particularly impressed by discovering numerous unseen photos while searching the platform, even when social media posts featured only a limited selection.

Future Growth and Platform Enhancement

Paul anticipates continued growth for the company and, as a partner, intends to increase awareness of the platform and encourage participation from other athletes. He shared with TechCrunch his appreciation for the platform’s simplicity, stating, “You can go in and search for my name and Devin Booker’s and see photos of us playing together.”

The NBA already leverages Greenfly to automate media distribution. Paul values its ease of use, emphasizing the desire for solutions that are not overly complex.

Expanding Beyond Repurposing

Greenfly’s focus extends beyond simply repurposing existing materials. The company is dedicated to developing a comprehensive workflow encompassing sourcing, creation, and automated distribution of photos and short-form videos specifically tailored for social media.

Data-Driven Curation and Community Management

Ongoing improvements are being implemented to enhance media curation, ensuring users receive the most relevant content. Data collection efforts are underway to provide deeper insights, enabling users to effectively manage relationships with their communities and amplify their messaging.

The new funding will be allocated to growth initiatives, expansion efforts, and the development of additional collaboration tools and content as the user base expands.

Athlete Perspective and System of Record

Kirschner highlighted the value of Chris Paul’s involvement, stating, “With Chris, it is an opportunity to come at it from the athlete’s perspective.” He explained that Greenfly primarily works with leagues and teams, and collaborating with athletes – who are brands themselves – positions the company as the central system for all stakeholders.

Significant Growth and Current Partnerships

The past year has been marked by substantial growth for Greenfly, reaching a critical point just before 2020. The company currently partners with over 30 sports leagues, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, and World Surf League.

Greenfly also serves more than 500 organizations across sports, media, entertainment, political campaigns, social causes, and consumer brands. The company is experiencing growth exceeding 100% in 2021.

Focus on Polished and Engaging Content

Recognizing the evolving landscape of social media, Greenfly is prioritizing more refined content, as data indicates that stories and intimate content generate superior engagement.

“We set out to build a content collaboration platform to provide content that athletes and others can share on social media and also manage that workflow around large, complex organizations,” Kirschner concluded. “Organizations have lots of content and we make that available through routing tools and curation, making it easy to find what you are looking for.”