Selkirk Sport Secures $30M from Bluestone to Expand Globally at $200M Valuation

Selkirk Sport announced a $30 million growth-equity investment from New York-based Bluestone Equity Partners that values the company at roughly $200 million and represents the brand’s first outside capital, Pickleball.com and Spokanejournal reported. The deal leaves the Barnes family with majority control while Bluestone takes a minority stake, Spokanejournal said.

The company said the capital will accelerate product development, expand distribution and fund international growth in targeted Asian markets including India, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines, Rob Barnes told Spokanejournal and Pickleball.com. Rob Barnes added, “As pickleball goes global, we have exciting plans, including next-gen paddles, a new line of quiet pickleballs, and reimagined footwear. Our commitment to innovation and performance remains central to our strategy,” Pickleball.com and Spokanejournal reported.

Founded in 2014 by brothers Mike and Rob Barnes and their father Jim, Selkirk grew from making about 25 paddles a day into a vertically integrated manufacturer that produces paddles, balls, nets, shoes and apparel, Ministryofsport and The Dink wrote. Spokanejournal supplied local detail, listing a Coeur d’Alene headquarters at 745 W. Hanley that overlooks the Selkirk Mountains, while other coverage described the company as Hayden, Idaho-based; sources use both North Idaho attributions in reporting.

Selkirk’s growth metrics underpinned the deal: Pickleball.com and Ministryofsport reported roughly 1,900 percent revenue growth since 2019 and an expectation to generate at least $100 million in revenue for fiscal 2026. The Dink reported Selkirk now employs more than 200 full-time and part-time staff, reflecting the rapid scaling the founders have led from the company’s North Idaho base.

Bluestone brings sports-investment expertise to Selkirk’s board, Ministryofsport said, and will deploy the capital from its debut $300 million fund; Pickleball.com reported Selkirk is Bluestone’s ninth investment from that vehicle. Ministryofsport identified Bobby Sharma, Bluestone’s founder and managing partner and a veteran NBA executive, as the lead overseer of alignment between investor and company; Sharma said, “Selkirk is the category leader in the well-established and still rapidly scaling sport of pickleball,” and added Bluestone looks forward to “supporting both organic and inorganic expansion, including targeted international growth in Asia and opportunistic M&A,” Ministryofsport reported.

Selkirk’s product track record and pipeline featured prominently in coverage: Pickleball.com highlighted past innovations such as the first limited lifetime warranty and the 16mm paddle core, Project Boomstik with patent-pending technology, the CourtStrike shoe line and a Tesla Plaid Paddle collaboration. The Dink and Pickleball.com noted brand extensions including SLK by Selkirk for accessible price points, Selkirk Pickleball TV as a free app, and CourtStrike 2.0 and CourtStrike Pro 2.0 footwear models as evidence the company intends to reinvest the new capital into R&D and global distribution.

Local reporting and trade coverage framed the investment as a strategic step for a family-run company moving from regional leader to global contender. Mike Barnes summed that ambition in Spokanejournal and The Dink: “Selkirk has built a powerful and focused pickleball platform that is ideally positioned as the sport continues to gain momentum in the U.S. and beyond,” and, “We’re not only trying to build the largest pickleball company. We're trying to build a world-class sports company.”