Selkirk Secures $30 Million from Bluestone to Accelerate Asia Expansion

Selkirk Sport secured a USD $30 million growth equity investment from New York-based Bluestone Equity Partners in a deal announced Jan 20, 2026 that values the North Idaho paddle maker at roughly USD $200 million and directs capital toward international expansion, with Asia singled out as a priority market.

The infusion is Selkirk’s first outside capital injection and arrives after a period of extraordinary growth: Selkirk reports roughly a 1,900% revenue increase since 2019 and expects at least USD $100 million in revenue for fiscal 2026 while staffing has grown to more than 200 employees. Co-CEO Mike Barnes framed the ambition succinctly: “We’re trying to build a world-class sports company from an infrastructure process.”

Product innovation and R&D are explicit uses for the funding. Selkirk’s pipeline includes Project Boomstik, a patent-pending paddle technology, the Tesla Plaid Paddle collaboration with Tesla automotive engineers, and multiple CourtStrike shoe SKUs including CourtStrike 2.0 and CourtStrike Pro 2.0. The company also operates SLK by Selkirk as a lower-priced line, maintains an exclusive long-term partnership with Costco, and runs Selkirk Pickleball TV, a free streaming app. Selkirk opened a high-tech, million-dollar U.S.-based research and development lab in May 2025 as part of that push.

Bluestone and Selkirk named Asia as a focal region for the next growth phase. Co-CEO Rob Barnes said Selkirk is “exceptionally well positioned to serve a global player base as markets such as India, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines develop,” and he listed next-gen paddles, a new line of quiet pickleballs, and reimagined footwear among the company’s Asia-oriented product plans. Bobby Sharma, founder and managing partner of Bluestone, stressed the market opportunity, noting that “since 2019, the number of adults playing pickleball in the U.S. has increased sixfold, now numbering in the tens of millions.”

Bluestone, founded in 2023 and led by Sharma, executed the investment from Bluestone Capital I, the firm’s debut fund of roughly USD $300 million. Sharma framed the deal as strategic: “One of the premier equipment manufacturers in any sport, Selkirk is the category leader in the well-established and still rapidly scaling sport of pickleball, and a very synergistic addition to the Bluestone portfolio,” and added Bluestone will “support both organic and inorganic expansion, including targeted international growth in Asia and opportunistic M&A in the fragmented equipment market in the U.S.”

Operationally, Selkirk traces its roots to 2014 and a family startup that once produced about 25 paddles a day, with founders Mike and Rob Barnes and their father Jim building a vertically integrated company that manufactures paddles, balls, nets, shoes, and apparel both overseas and in the U.S. Reporting lists North Idaho locations as Hayden and a Coeur d’Alene address at 745 W. Hanley; Selkirk’s name is drawn from the nearby Selkirk Mountains.

Neither Selkirk nor Bluestone disclosed the ownership percentage associated with the USD $30 million growth equity investment; some reporting suggests the company preferred a single partner taking a minority stake. For Asian players and local distributors, the deal promises accelerated product rollouts and expanded distribution, while back in North Idaho it cements Selkirk’s shift from a family paddlemaker into a capital-backed, innovation-led sports equipment company.