Why We Invested: Ankored
Youth Sports Safety and Compliance Platform
Youth sports organizations face a complex patchwork of compliance requirements that vary by state and sport—things like coaching certifications, first aid training, concussion protocols, and abuse prevention. Missing even one puts athletes at risk and exposes organizations to liability.
Ankored makes this process simple by pulling all requirements into one easy-to-use system. With automated reminders, dashboards, AI tools, and integrations, it gives coaches, parents, and administrators real-time visibility while cutting paperwork.
Rally Ventures led Ankored’s $4 million seed round. Rally Managing Director Justin Kaufenberg recently spoke with Ankored Founder and CEO Seth Lieberman about the mission behind the company, building the right team, and why comprehensive youth sports safety has never been more important. Below are edited excerpts from their conversation.
Justin Kaufenberg, Managing Director at Rally Ventures: Seth, welcome to the Rally portfolio! We’re thrilled to have you and your team with us. Could you share a high-level overview of Ankored and what excites you most about building the company?
Seth Lieberman, Founder and CEO at Ankored: Thanks, Justin. Anchored is a mission-driven company focused on keeping kids safe in youth sports while helping organizations—such as municipalities, leagues, and for-profits—understand, mitigate, and manage their risks.
Since the SAFESPORT Act of 2017, we’ve seen incredible growth in youth sports, alongside a massive increase in incidents, issues, risk, and bad actors. There hasn’t been a comprehensive approach to solving this problem until now.
I’m passionate about this because I see it every day with my four kids who play multiple sports. As a parent and coach, I’ve experienced firsthand the massive gaps in a very fragmented system. The opportunity to both do well and do good at such a scale just locked me in.
Justin: One reason we were so excited to invest is because we lived this at SportsEngine (Justin is the co-founder and former CEO of SportsEngine). We were incredibly proud of our safety division, and it was a big part of why I loved going to work every day, knowing we were helping keep kids safe on and off the field.
But over the last five years, it’s become clear that a background check alone isn’t enough. That’s why a company like Ankored needs to exist—not just to screen coaches, drivers, and administrators, but to verify all required certifications, specific to each sport and each region and to provide the ongoing education necessary to maintain those required certifications. Ultimately a full human security profile is built that goes far beyond a single check.
It’s what parents want, what athletes need, and what organizations are increasingly being told they must do by insurers and others. For us, this is personal and close to home, which makes us all the more excited.
When you think about that continuum of safety, tell me more about how Ankored is different from anything that’s come before.
Seth: The challenge is that regulation is increasing dramatically. There are state laws, local laws, federal laws, national governing body laws. It’s hard to understand what actually applies to you. Ankored brings together a single, comprehensive source of knowledge around what you need to do to keep kids safe.
We think about four major components: policies and procedures, compliance, education and training, and response and resolution. We integrate multiple background check providers—whether you need a live scan in California, a national or Canadian check, or even international—so organizations don’t have to manage providers, just focus on safety.
We also partner with content providers in abuse prevention, coaching, first aid, and mental health, helping organizations move up the safety curve. The result: safer environments for kids, reduced risk for organizations, and in turn, lower costs and insurance premiums. It’s not just the right thing to do. It’s good business.
Justin: Tell us about the team. You’ve worked with other members of the leadership team for years across multiple companies.
Seth: We have an incredible leadership team. Armen Zildjian runs sales and has worked with me for 15 years, previously running sales at hypergrowth companies like Drift. Jeremy Crane heads product, with senior roles at HubSpot and elsewhere; I’ve known him for just as long. Jim Spath runs engineering and has worked with me across four companies. And our newest hire, Kyle Lubrano, joins as VP of Compliance and Athlete Safety, with deep experience in our space at USA Baseball, USA Lacrosse, and Players Health.
At the next layer, folks like Daisy Cobb leading customer success and Meg Brousseau directing customer support, both of whom have now worked with me at two companies. A lot of folks are returning because they want to run the play again and because they like the crew.
Justin: Ankored is joining a portion of the Rally portfolio that concentrates on sports. We have Bond Sports in facility management software, JustiFi in sports payments, Yardstik in sports background screening (and is an integrated provider to Ankored), and Vertical Insure in amateur sports insurance.
This creates a real keiretsu effect where executives help each other with shared customers, employees assist on applicable strategies, and there are direct product integrations. It’s exciting to add another critical piece to our sports tech portfolio. You had multiple investors to choose from—why Rally?
Seth: We picked Rally because money, while always important, is somewhat of a commodity. There is a lot of it out there. What stood out was the depth of Rally’s knowledge of our vertical and TAM. From day one, Justin, Luke and the whole team delivered strategic value, making introductions and opening doors even before the deal closed.
Our bet was that Rally would bring both capital and strategy, and that’s proven true. I also value their keiretsu model. The portfolio synergies mean we can share lessons, learn from peers, and benefit from the traction of companies like Bond, JustiFi, Yardstik, and Vertical Insure. It’s been incredibly valuable as we scale.
Justin: You’ve been an entrepreneur for 25-plus years. What are your entrepreneurial truths—the things you hold most dear?
Seth: I think it’s only appropriate to use sports analogies to answer that question. As a founder and CEO for 25+ years, the biggest lesson is learning to hit the curveball. Challenges will come—you have to adapt. The best way to do that is through people. The team is everything, in sports and in business. Our focus is bringing in the right people, reducing friction, and keeping everyone aligned on goals and obstacles.
At the end of the day, it’s the people and the organization that drive process, innovation, growth, and ultimately, success.
Justin: A former CFO and good friend of mine used to say: if you spend 0% of your energy on internal politics and 100% on growing the business, it’s a game changer. Multiply that daily across hundreds of employees, and it makes all the difference. Plus, it’s just a lot more fun.
Seth: I like to say we have a strict no-jerks policy. We only work with people aligned to the mission, and if someone pollutes the culture, we remove them. As you said, Justin, the more time spent on politics or drama, the more you’re shooting yourself in the foot. It’s hard enough to win without adding obstacles.
Justin: Couldn’t be more excited to have you as part of the team. I look forward to the journey ahead!
