When Kobi Wu’s son started getting serious about basketball, she kept hearing the same question from other parents: What’s he worth?
In today’s era of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), that question carries real weight. Schools are navigating sponsorships and revenue sharing. Athletes are building personal brands before they can legally rent a car. And many coaches and athletic directors are being asked to make compensation decisions without a clear, consistent framework.
Kobi saw the confusion up close. And she’s not someone who’s comfortable with guesswork, especially when it comes to her son’s future.
Trained in architecture and engineering, she learned to think about impact before laying “brick to road.” Her career eventually took her into marketing and advertising, where she built a computer vision company that helped brands measure the value of outdoor advertising, a space that had long been overlooked because it was hard to quantify. After nearly eight years, she exited the company when it was acquired.
She learned a lesson from that journey. When no standard exists, you make one.
In 2024, Kobi founded Cache AI to bring clarity to NIL, empowering athletes and their families to take back control over their careers. The platform aggregates a combination of performance data, social media and visibility metrics, and off-the-court activity to generate a CacheScore™, a standardized assessment of an athlete’s market value.
Universities, conferences and brands subscribe to the platform; athletes use it for free. Once a school signs on, players can verify their profiles and better understand how their value is being calculated.
Today, more than 66,000 athletes are on Cache AI, and 19 universities are active partners. The first was Columbia University, which worked with Cache to evaluate NIL across its men’s and women’s basketball programs.
In Alabama, schools including Alabama State University, Alabama A&M University, Miles College and Stillman College have adopted the platform. National relationships extend to Howard University and programs connected with UCLA, Penn State University and Washington State University.
The growth has been shaped by constant feedback. Cache AI works closely with athletic directors, general managers and former professional players to pressure-test its model and ensure the numbers reflect real-world decision-making. The goal isn’t hype. It’s consistency.
That mission resonated in Alabama, where Kobi joined the Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator, powered by gener8tor. What she discovered was a deeply connected sports community willing to lean in. The program provided capital, introductions and access to decision-makers who understood that college sports operate with vastly different budget realities. For smaller programs, a clear, unbiased valuation tool helps ensure athletes are paid fairly while schools make responsible financial decisions.
Cache AI’s team is lean but they cover a lot of ground, with teammates based in New York, California, Texas and South America. But its focus is straightforward: bring structure to a fast-changing market.
As the NIL landscape continues to shift, Cache AI is working to ensure decisions are driven by data, not assumptions. For athletes and their families, that means clarity in a system that has long relied on guesswork. Kobi started Cache AI as a parent searching for answers. Today, she’s helping ensure that parents like her can feel confident their children are being valued for what they’re truly worth.
