Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm acquires college sports trading card company ONIT

When Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian describes something new in his life as a “dream come true,” it might raise eyebrows. But for a trading card and memorabilia collector like him, owning a card company is still the definition of the hobby dream.

Ohanian’s venture capital firm Seven Seven Six recently purchased trading card company ONIT, which focuses primarily on producing officially licensed college sports cards. In addition, Evan Parker has been named ONIT’s new CEO. Parker, a former NASCAR and The Athletic executive, most recently guided the creation of collectibles social media app Mantel, which also counts Ohanian as an investor.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 2026-27 academic year will mark ONIT’s fifth season as a licensed trading card manufacturer after creating sets for 212 teams featuring more than 8,000 student-athletes across 67 Division I schools during the most recently completed academic year (2024-25), including many women’s sports teams.

“Here’s a company that’s focused just entirely on collegiate athletes.
And not just the top-name athletes,” Ohanian told The Athletic. “Yes, we’ve got (former Indiana Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando) Mendoza’s (first) card, but we also have his lineman, and that kid may not ever play in the NFL. He may never otherwise get a trading card, but we get to be his trading card. There’s a different energy around that that I think is really important.

“And then at the same time, there’s not another (card) company that’s produced more women’s sports student-athletes than (ONIT), and I think we’ve produced more (women’s college cards) than every other company combined. And I’m thinking, ‘Wow! That’s an opportunity.’”

ONIT has found a niche in creating trading cards for college sports. (Courtesy of ONIT)

While Fanatics’ growth in the trading card hobby seems to continue by the day, the company’s greater focus on professional sports has allowed ONIT to carve out its own sizable niche. ONIT has primarily focused on making team-specific sets, with a current roster of schools that includes Ohio State, Penn State, Alabama, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas and more. However, 2026 ONIT Gravity Baseball will include 100 top college baseball players from 10 schools, and will be available at Walmart and Best Buy.

According to ONIT, the company’s revenue has grown 244 percent in the past two years, including a year-over-year growth of 56.9 percent in 2025 and a 58.6 percent uptick in net income for the same period.

Ohanian’s goal for ONIT isn’t to challenge Fanatics for trading card supremacy. He said his newly purchased company and Topps (owned by Fanatics) are “running different races,” with ONIT’s focus on “the long tail of sports and athletes.” In addition, he’s looking to keep ONIT’s cards affordable and hoping the company can attract newcomers to the hobby he loves.

“I want to find ways to elevate these athletes,” said Ohanian, who is married to tennis legend Serena Williams. Ohanian is also a minority owner of Chelsea FC Women and a founder of the NWSL’s Angel City FC, Los Angeles Volleyball, LA Golf Club and professional women’s track and field series Athlos.

“Not just the star quarterback, but also the guy covering his ass,” Ohanian continued. “And also surprise folks with sports that may not necessarily be on their radar. I want you to learn about Texas softball, or you learn about Ohio State hockey or UCLA gymnastics. I want to champion those athletes, and I want to champion those communities. That is a wide-open area that ONIT has already made great headway in and that we can just take to another level.”

Parker worked closely with Ohanian at Mantel over the past three years, and he will remain heavily involved with Mantel going forward. Parker, who called himself a lifelong collector, said he enters his role as a first-time CEO of a trading card company with “a thousand ideas.”

“Not only is it special, but it also gives me so much more respect for the industry as a whole and for what all of these card companies have been doing since the 1800s, essentially,” Parker told The Athletic. “I know how passionate he (Ohanian) is about this space, how passionate he is about sports in general, how passionate he is about women’s sports and how much he does not like to lose,” Parker said. “And I have all the confidence in the world that with the existing team we have in place, the partnerships that we have in place and Alexis and Seven Seven Six behind us, we’re going to be able to do a lot of really cool stuff.

“People who have been buying our cards for the last three to four years are going to continue to love it, but we’re going to start doing things that this business has not done before. I’m really bullish on what we can create, and the money that we can drive to student athletes, the money that we can drive to the institutions, but also for the deeper connections we can make with both collectors and just college sports fans in general.”