CP3 upgrades from user to stakeholder in the media management and monetization company co-founded by MLB All-Star Shawn Green
After being a high-level user for many years, 11-time NBA All-Star point guard Chris Paul is joining media workflow platform Greenfly as a partner and a strategic investor, the company announced Tuesday.
When Paul isn’t excelling on the court and leading the Phoenix Suns to their first NBA Finals appearance in 28 years, he’s using Greenfly’s digital media IP to bolster the efforts of the Chris Paul Family Foundation, the Social Change Fund, Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League, and the National Basketball Players Association, where he served as the players union’s president for eight years.
“Greenfly is one the most recognizable names among athletes,” Paul said, “but its application and impact extends far beyond the court or field. Greenfly simplifies digital media creation and distribution through a single platform and app, which makes it incredibly easy for organizations to work with any ambassador — whether they’re an NBA player, superfan, influencer, or volunteer — to share their authentic passion and affiliation to the brands and causes they love.”
Greenfly’s media management and monetization interface
Paul’s investment is part of an $8.4 million funding round for Greenfly, which was founded by former Major League Baseball All-Star Shawn Green and Daniel Kirschner. Previous investors who have also participated in this latest round include Go4it Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, Alpha Edison, and Iconica Partners.
“Greenfly’s platform is a private media collaboration network for just about any organization. It’s flexible enough for teams looking to amplify storytelling and share brand experiences through their athletes, ambassadors, influencers, or advocates,” Green said. “Our earliest iteration solved for the fragmented system I experienced between sports photographers and players who rely on real-time, organic content to build their personal brands.”
Subscribe for the biggest stories in the business of sports and entertainment, daily.
Funding will further the momentum of Greenfly’s 100% growth rate in 2021 and its support of over 30 leagues and 500 organizations globally, including the NBA, MLB, UEFA, Real Madrid,ESPN, and BET, the company said. CP3’s strategic partnership will support Greenfly’s commercial expansion through the creation and automated distribution of short-form photos and videos created for social media.
“For athletes like Chris Paul, Greenfly has become their media lifeline,” Green said. “It has given him a continuous feed of photos and videos of him on the court he can share on his social media channels without IP infringement. Posting better content more often, he has been able to grow his personal brand, as well as strengthen that of the brands and organizations that Paul works with.”
“Greenfly has always been about enabling organizations to empower their entire ecosystem of advocates with valuable content,” said Kirschner, Greenfly’s president and CEO. “Chris sits at the epicenter of an incredibly valuable network and carries that same founding perspective as an athlete, using Greenfly to collaborate and communicate with his team and his league. As a strategic partner, there’s incredible potential to bring the power of Greenfly to any brand or organization Paul touches.”
For more information on Greenfly, visit greenfly.com.
To learn more about the Chris Paul Family Foundation, visit chrispaulfamilyfoundation.org.
