What CaptainU does

CaptainU, operated by MLQ Ventures LLC (Texas, founded 2012), is an online collegiate sports recruiting platform connecting high school athletes with college coaches. The platform is structured as a suite of web and mobile products: CaptainU Athletes (athlete-facing profile creation, highlight video sharing, and direct messaging to college coaches), CaptainU College (a dedicated portal for college coaches to discover and recruit athletes across all NCAA divisions), CaptainU Teams (a $500/year subscription for club and high school coaches to manage up to 25 athletes' recruiting), and CaptainU Events (a tournament and event management system for organizers). A mobile companion app, Stack Athlete, extends the platform to iOS. The platform is NCAA-approved as a recruiting/scouting service and applies algorithmic matching to align athletes with college programs based on athletic, academic, and geographic attributes.

The company operates a multi-sided, freemium SaaS business model. Athletes create free profiles with optional premium upgrades starting at $22.50/month that unlock direct messaging to all college coaches on the platform. Teams purchase annual subscriptions at $500/year for up to 25 athletes. College coaches and event organizers pay subscription fees for access to the recruiting and event management tools. Distribution channels are self-serve for athletes and teams, while the college coach side is approached through a field/enterprise sales motion. Payment processing is handled via Stripe. The platform serves 3M+ athletes, 10,000+ college coaches, 100,000+ team coaches, and 2,000+ tournaments, with content marketing and partner referrals (event organizers, clubs) as the primary acquisition channels. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding, bootstrapped operation, and compliance with COPPA and NCAA bylaws.

Name

CaptainU

Legal name

MLQ Ventures LLC

Website

https://stacksports.captainu.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CaptainU is a NCAA-approved online college sports recruiting platform connecting 3M+ high school athletes with 10,000+ college coaches via athlete profiles, direct messaging, team management tools, and event management modules under a freemium SaaS subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Athlete Premium Subscriptions: Monthly subscription plans starting at $22.50/month for premium recruiting features including enhanced profile visibility and direct messaging capabilities to college coaches
2. Teams Package: Annual team subscription at $500/year covering up to 25 roster athletes with custom athlete profiles, profile tracking, video uploads, and recruiting tools
3. College Coach Subscriptions: Subscription-based access for college coaches to use the recruiting/scouting service, approved by NCAA for Division I football and basketball coaches
4. Event Organizer Subscriptions: Platform services for tournament and event organizers to manage recruiting events and connect with college coaches

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CaptainU operates an online collegiate sports recruiting SaaS platform that connects high school athletes with college coaches across all NCAA divisions. Athletes create free or premium recruiting profiles to share highlight videos and message college coaches directly, while college coaches subscribe to discover and recruit prospects, teams use team management tools, and tournament organizers run recruiting events.

Product overview

CaptainU operates as a platform-plus-modules architecture consisting of a core recruiting platform that connects high school athletes with college coaches, complemented by specialized modules for different user segments: CaptainU Athletes (athlete-facing profile and communication tools), CaptainU College (college coach recruiting tools), CaptainU Teams (premium team management add-on for club/high school coaches at $500/year), and CaptainU Events (event management for tournament directors). A mobile companion app called Stack Athlete extends access to iOS devices. The platform is NCAA-approved for recruiting services and serves over 3 million athletes, 10,000+ college coaches, 100,000+ team coaches, and 2,000+ event organizers across collegiate sports divisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CaptainU Athletes A platform for high school athletes to build free or premium recruiting profiles, highlight skills, upload and share highlight videos, and send direct messages to college coaches to manage their recruiting journey and gain exposure across all NCAA divisions.
• CaptainU College A subscription-based platform for NCAA college coaches to discover, evaluate, and recruit high school athletes across all divisions; approved as a recruiting/scouting service under NCAA bylaws for Division I football and basketball coaches.
• CaptainU Teams An annual subscription package for club and high school coaches that covers up to 25 roster athletes with custom athlete profiles, profile view tracking, video uploads, college discovery tools, recruiting templates, eligibility information, email templates, and a step-by-step recruiting checklist; priced at $500/year.
• CaptainU Events A subscription platform for tournament directors and event organizers to build college recruiting events, collect athlete information via PDF/Excel/iPad, promote events to college coaches, make athlete profiles available to coaches, and track attendance and event performance; used by over 2,000 tournaments.
• Stack Athlete Mobile App A mobile application available on iOS App Store and Google Play that enables athletes to access CaptainU recruiting tools, create profiles, share highlight videos, and connect with college coaches from mobile devices.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% of high school athletes are lightly recruited - CaptainU helps athletes stand out proactively

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stack AthletecoreTechnology or IntegrationStack Athlete appears to be an affiliated brand/app (Stack Athlete Recruiting) that integrates with the CaptainU platform. The company is operated by MLQ Ventures LLC dba CaptainU, and Stack Athlete is marketed alongside CaptainU as part of the same recruiting ecosystem.
• Insider ExposureminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner organization in the college sports recruiting ecosystem, shown among CaptainU's trusted partner logos for event and recruiting services.
• Athletes of TomorrowminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner organization in the sports recruiting space, appearing in CaptainU's partner ecosystem for recruiting events and athlete exposure.
• Bethesda Soccer ClubminorGTM or Marketing PartnerClub organization partner using CaptainU to support their athletes' college recruiting efforts.
• Big ShotsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEvent and recruiting organization partner shown in CaptainU's trusted partner network.
• Tennessee Soccer ClubminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSoccer club partner utilizing CaptainU for athlete recruiting and exposure services.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/captainu
• Facebookfacebook.com/captainu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/captainu

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CaptainU