H3 Partners bought Upper Hand. The buyers' backgrounds tell you where experienced operators think the opportunity is.
Upper Hand, an Indianapolis-based software platform for youth sports facilities, trainers, and coaches, announced it has been acquired by H3 Partners, a technology-focused investment firm. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
The deal itself is straightforward. What makes it interesting is who's buying.
The Buyers
H3 Partners was founded by Brad Wills and Brad Greene, two executives with deep experience in fitness and sports technology.
Brad Wills, now CEO of Upper Hand, previously held senior leadership roles at Mindbody and Active Network. Both companies built large businesses helping gyms, studios, and recreation organizations manage operations and payments. Active Network was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2017. Mindbody was taken private by Vista in 2019 for $1.9 billion.
Brad Greene, now COO of Upper Hand, spent time at Mindbody and HubSpot, where he led teams building integrated payment platforms.
These aren't financial buyers looking at spreadsheets from a distance. They're operators who spent years inside companies that defined the category for fitness and recreation software. Now they're betting that youth sports is ready for the same playbook.
What Upper Hand Does
Upper Hand provides operations software for sports facilities, academies, camps, clinics, and individual trainers and coaches. The platform handles scheduling, registration, payments, and client management.
The company positions itself as purpose-built for sports, as opposed to general fitness or scheduling tools that get adapted for youth athletics. The pitch is that coaches and facility operators need software designed for how they actually run their businesses: sessions, memberships, camps, clinics, and athlete development programs.
It's a similar value proposition to what Mindbody offered gyms and studios: replace the patchwork of disconnected tools with one integrated system.
Why This Matters
The youth sports software market is getting crowded with experienced buyers.
We've seen specialized software investors like Frontier Growth enter through Sprocket Sports. We've seen Alpine Software Group acquire PlayHQ to expand into sports tech. And now we're seeing operators with direct category experience (Mindbody, Active Network) launch their own firm and target youth sports specifically.
That's a signal. When people who built and scaled the fitness software category start a new firm and make youth sports their first acquisition, they're telling you where they think the next opportunity is.
The thesis isn't complicated: youth sports facilities and trainers are underserved by software. The market is fragmented. Operators are still using spreadsheets, disconnected apps, and manual processes. And the demand for organized training is growing as parents invest more in their kids' athletic development.
H3 Partners is betting they can apply what worked in fitness (integrated software, embedded payments, operational efficiency) to youth sports.
Takeaways for Investors
Experienced operators are entering youth sports The H3 Partners team isn't new to this. They built and scaled software companies in adjacent categories. Their entry into youth sports validates the opportunity.
The facility and trainer segment is heating up Upper Hand serves a different slice of the market than club management platforms like Sprocket Sports. Facilities, academies, and individual trainers have their own needs, and buyers are starting to target them specifically.
Payments are part of the play Brad Greene's background is in integrated payments. Expect Upper Hand to expand its payment capabilities. That's where a lot of the margin lives in software businesses like this.
The Mindbody playbook is coming to youth sports Consolidate fragmented operations, embed payments, build switching costs, expand from there. If it worked for fitness, the bet is it'll work for youth sports too.
