Naomi Osaka’s media company gets a lift from SpringHill

TheFuture. Hana Kuma, the media company founded by Naomi Osaka and Stuart Duguid with the help of LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Co., is spinning off from SpringHill to become an independent entity. If Hana Kuma becomes a successful company in its own right, SpringHill may gain a reputation as the Y Combinator of athlete-driven media.

Leaving the mountaintop
Hana Kuma is striking out on its own.

• The company has raised $5 million from SpringHill, Epic Games, Fenway Sports Group, investment firm Disruptive, and Japanese conglomerate Kinoshita Group.
• Hana Kuma will be spun off from SpringHill, which incubated the company, allowing it to grow and expand into new markets, including anime and manga (personal favorites of Osaka, who is Japanese).

Carter says that Hana Kuma spinning off is a “seminal moment in the history of the company” as part of SpringHill’s mission is for businesses incubated there to become SpringHills in their own right — a multi-arm studio and media agency with divisions all across the content landscape.

Having scored a $725 million valuation in 2021 when it was still an upstart, SpringHill plans to launch more companies in partnership with athletes with a “global mindset.”