Three American pickleball brands have fused into one, with the backing of a private equity firm called Thirty-5 Capital. Specifically, Paddletek, ProXR Pickleball and Boundless Pickleball will now operate under the single name United Pickleball Paddles (UPP), a subsidiary of Thirty-5’s United Pickleball Properties.
“Combining multiple respected brands under one entity,” says Thirty-5’s founder and managing partner, Ron Saslow, “will allow us to provide unparalleled choices for our customers while allowing for great efficiencies for our manufacturing and distribution partners.”
Paddletech began as a small, family-run operation and is at least 14 years old because it introduced its honeycomb paddle core in 2010. It is headquartered in Niles, Michigan. It has been supplying paddles to Anna Leigh Waters, the Professional Pickleball Association’s top-ranked player, for years.
ProXR Pickleball, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, is known for ProXR, a tilt of 23 degrees to the knob-end of the paddle’s handle. The tilt was first used on baseball bats to spare the outer heel of a hitter’s palm – and through it his hamate bone – from the worst of the impact when his bat made contact with the ball. According to the company, this design, now called XR-23, has been approved for use by the NHL, NCAA, USA Pickleball, and APTA and is awaiting approval in other sports, such as lacrosse, golf, cricket, and field hockey.
Boundless Pickleball invites its customers to choose their paddle’s material and graphic design. It offers, for example, logos and colors from American universities under license from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
