# DIVERTsessions Pop-Up COVID safe outdoor Sports and Education facility helps bridge social inequities ## Elevator pitch DIVERTsessions makes Action Sports more accessible and affordable. Action Sports like skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding are currently out of reach to many because they are too expensive and too far away. What's worse is that most are shut out from the positive life lessons and community benefits that come with being a part of the Action Sports Lifestyle. DIVERTsessions changes this by situating participation facilities near urban metros and dramatically reducing costs to participate. - Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/divert - Entity ID: wefunder:company:42136 - Last updated: 2026-06-05T05:00:12Z - Generated at: 2026-06-05T19:00:42Z ## Quick facts - Raised $500k in the first 10 days. Top company on WeFunder. Terms can offer returns in under 1 year. - Experts call us mission driven TopGolf for Action Sports like Skateboarding, Surfing & Snowboarding - Team is comprised of leaders from TopGolf, Disney, Nike, Universal, Red Bull, X-Games and others. - We combat social inequities by providing accessibility to Action Sports and Education - Site and operations designed to specifically support social distancing and all COVID safety measures ## Active fundraises - wefunder:fundraise:27935: 4(a)(6) successful (USD) ## Story The DIVERTsessions pop-up is an outdoor Action Sports and Education facility designed for safe, affordable and accessible participation during COVID to anyone and everyone interested in trying these sports or learning something new. Our program is made up of 6 key attractions. A skatepark, a ski/snow hill, a wave machine, a creative education studio, a live event venue and food and beverage service. The program is very exciting, but why is now the right time to launch something like this?DIVERTSESSIONS POP-UP SUMMARYAction Sports like Skateboarding, Surfing, Skiing Snowboarding and more are growing exponentially in popularity and only stand to continue to grow with the induction of Skateboarding, Surfing and Freestyle BMX into the Olympics in 2021. This popularity is met with very challenging barriers to entry for most of the population because these sports are expensive, they are located far away from urban centers and let's be honest, they can be a little intimidating. This makes accessibility socially and financially inequitable for most, and we are here to change that. The DIVERTsessions pop-up was created by an industry leading team of experts from TopGolf, Nike, Red Bull, Disney, Universal and more to create a convenient, affordable, supportive and COVID safe answer to this pain in the market. DIVERT has a proven track record of success and has scaled into this opportunity by showing it's ability to develop action sports facilities around the world, build a strong brand that led to ~$400k in revenue in merchandise and apparel sales in the first 6 months it was launched, and running national educational programing with companies like Red Bull. If you have interest in becoming an investor in the DIVERTsessions Pop-Up, you will invest alongside industry accredited investors and share in the same financial terms as they do. You will receive all profits from the project until you are fully paid back on your initial investment + an additional 10%. After you have made this 10% return on your investment, the investor pool will then split the additional profits 50%/50% with DIVERTsessions 1 Inc. the company. After this first Pop-Up, we plan to use the capital the company earned to expand to multiple permanent sites across the country, and as an early stage investor, you would be given the option to take your returns from the pop-up and cash out, or leave your money in the company and grow your investment and impact along with us. We would love to welcome you into the DIVERT family and so please read more below if you are interested, or feel free to reach out directly to the founders with any questions at zach@divertbrands.com and david@divertbrands.com. 66M people are interested in Action Sports, yet less than 9% can afford to participate.There is a massive untapped market between the number of people who are interested in Action Sports and who can participate. Currently, there are over 52,000,000 potential new Action Sports participants in the US alone which only stands to grow after the induction of Skateboarding, Surfing and BMX into the 2021 Olympics.Our mission is to make Action Sports, and the surrounding creative lifestyles, more accessible to everyone...... especially underserved youth or previously excluded populations. At DIVERT, our Founder’s lives were positively DIVERTED by the fortunate interjection of Actions Sports right when they needed it most. These sports taught them valuable life lessons — such as creativity, motivation, resilience, a passion for progression, and appetite for calculated risk, which eventually laid the groundwork for their entrepreneurial futures. 15 years later, DIVERT was born when they realized that they were part of a small, fortunate segment of the population that was able to access, afford and be welcomed into the Action Sports community. After recognizing the apparent social inequality occurring in the very industry they thought so highly of, they set out to create a brand that would make Action Sports and creative education more accessible to underserved populations. The seed for DIVERT was planted and since then we have created a platform that uses action sports to educate, entertain, and empower anyone to "Achieve Their I’mpossible".There is already a ton of interest in Action Sports...This is seen by media viewership, event attendance, and lifestyle product consumption. Even before being inducted into the Olympics, Action Sports, like skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing, already enjoy massive attention and mainstream appeal as shown by media viewership, event attendance, and consumption of lifestyle products.… Now with skateboarding, surfing and freestyle BMX being added to the Summer games in 2021, experts are predicting that these sports are going to explode in popularity due to something we call the “Olympic Effect”....but there are too many barriers for most people to participate. Despite the overwhelming interest Action Sports, there are high barriers that make Action Sports inaccessible to most. These sports are expensive, geographically distant from urban centers, they lack organized programming and they can be intimidating. As a result, only 1% of kids in the United States are able to surf, only 4% are able to snowboard and only 9% are able to skateboard. Thankfully, there are NEW Action Sports technologies...Companies like Flowrider, Neveplast and a ton of others have created new technologies like wave machines and dry ski slopes that allow Action Sports like surfing and snowboarding to locate anywhere. The best part is that these technologies have the capacity to dramatically bring down the cost of participation and make them convenient and affordable to large urban populations....and the retail apocalypse is giving us LOTS of space.Big box specialty and retail stores are closing— about 100,000 stores closing with an estimated 75,000 more to close by 2026. This has only been accelerated with the impacts of COVID-19 shutdowns. Yikes. Now, there's ample real estate in dire need of revitalization.Well-capitalized retail landowners are turning to location-based entertainment (LBE) venues to attract guests and save the day. As a result, we are able to get favorable terms and in most cases, financing from the landlords to build out in the empty spaces. ...and the DIVERTsessions Pop-Up was designed and developed to thrive in the post-COVID world. Addressing the elephant in the room - the global health pandemic. DIVERTsession was actually designed in direct response to the global health pandemic. We realized we could design and develop a site plan and operating standards  that intentionally supported 6' social distancing, enabled simple and straight forward sanitation, and made the New Normal part of the everyday at DIVERT. So that is exactly what we did. Our DIVERTsessions park is an outdoor recreation experience, the safest option of any location based offerings. The Opportunity?Add it up— There is a ton of interest in Action Sports, but participation is restricted, this interest only stands to grow substantially with the induction of these sports into the Olympics. There are new technologies that make it affordable and convenient to participate in Action Sports. There is a surplus of retail real estate and financial support for location-based entertainment concepts. There is more demand for social connection and activity than ever and the DIVERTsessions Pop-up program is intentionally designed to thrive in a post-COVID world. This creates a major opportunity for someone to create an Action Sports and entertainment concept that uses these new technologies to make Action Sports more accessible and capitalize on the massive demand for participation in these sports.We Call It DIVERTsessions.The DIVERTsessions Pop-Up is an Action Sports and Entertainment outdoor recreation experience  where anyone and everyone can benefit from the life lessons, community, and positivity of Action Sports and the surrounding lifestyles. The facilities are made up of 6 critical components. A surf machine, skatepark, artificial snow slope, music, art and media studio, food and beverage program, and event venue. Let’s have a look:Semi-Permanent Outdoor Pop-UpPermanent Indoor VenueEach athletic area comes with a guide to ensure safe and comfortable progression and we supplement the athletic activities with education in videography/photography, art/design, music production and more, so even if you are not the athlete, there is a place for you to learn and progress at DIVERT.Our team is our unfair advantage.We've worked long and hard to put together an All-Star Executive, Advisory and Project team with the accolades and experience that are unmatched in the Action Sports industry. Our executive  and advisory team is comprised of former executives, leaders and operators from TopGolf, GameStop, Disney, Universal, X-Games, Red Bull, Nickelodeon and more.We have partnered with the world's top real estate, architectural, experiential, engineering, construction, operations, and legal professionals who brought you entertainment destinations and themed attractions like Disney World, Universal Orlando, TopGolf, Putt Shack, iFly, X-Games, Ferrari World, Wet'n'Wild, The Crayola Experience, Kidzania and much more.Last but not least, we have acquired contracts with incredible athletes who hold multiple X-games gold medals, Olympic medals, and Guinness Book World Records.(Check our deck for more information.)We are calculated, relentless and back by a lead investor...If action sports have taught us anything, it is how to take calculated risks. You can't just ride up to a massive jump without working your way up to it. We've approached developing DIVERT with the same mindset by testing and validating key aspects of the business. We spun up a merchandise brand called DIVERTcollective. Within the first 5 months, we generated over $350,000 in revenue and sold over 45,000 units of merchandise and apparel. We developed an entrepreneurship program to test out ability to create engaging programming. It immediately got picked up by Red Bull and used across all their college campuses across the country. We tested our ability to build and manage an Action Sports facility by building a skatepark and community center in San Rafael Costa Rica. To date, it has serviced over 500,000 sessions and is a centerpiece of the community. To test our operations, DIVERT partnered with Vans to produce a single day action sports and lifestyle event that taught over 160 at-risk youth skateboarding, music production, street art, photography, and videography.Our actions to date have caught the eye of multiple accredited investors who have thoroughly vetted our team, concept, business model and timing, and decided this is a smart move with their most valuable asset, their money. Why we're crowdfunding.To date, the DIVERT team has been supported by its friends, family, advocates, and supporting community who sincerely believe in its founders and the profound impact that DIVERT will have. It only feels right to give the same group of individuals the opportunity to financially benefit from that support versus relinquishing all of it to anyone else who may not have the same beliefs and motivations to see DIVERT be successful. We want DIVERT to be built by the community, for the community.How we make money.DIVERTsessions revenue comes from the following key sources:76% = Ticketing & Memberships16% = F&B, Merch and Memorobilia12% = Event and Event Rental6% = Sponsorships DIVERTsessions’ financial model is based on facility utilization of the capacities of our major attractions which is how many guests are using the attractions or otherwise occupying the space in non-peak times (like weekdays) and peak times (like weekends).How we make an impact.The DIVERT business model drives attendance, and revenue, in a handful of ways that enable people of all races, genders and socioeconomic backgrounds to be able to participate in the Action Sports and Creative Education.The DIVERT programming model offers a number of alternative athletic and educational programs to help youth discover and develop a passion, turn it into a skill and eventually apply it to a successful career and life. Our roadmapNow, we're ready to hit the ground running. We need your help to grow DIVERT. We currently have all vendor and partner agreements in place, a lease for our pop-up activation at the Del Amo Mall in Torrance, CA, the majority of the financing in place, and we are awaiting approval from the city to launch the concept once it is deemed safe and opportunistic post-COVID by government agencies and our own internal network of executives and advisors. Only once we receive green lights from the City and industry experts, as well as gather positive data around other similar concepts performance will we responsibly launch the pop-up to meet the pent up demand for meaningful places of connection. Why Launch DIVERTsessions in Spring 2021?We have thought long and hard about this question, consulted with industry experts, crunched the data and numbers and have come out on the other end with some clairty. First, the good news is, our program is already designed to be a COVID safe outdoor recreations experience no matter when it is launched. That said, we wanted to take extra precautions because our guest safety is always our priority. Spring 2021 is a projected safe zone according to all of the cdc's projections regarding a second wave of COVID-19 (See this article for more information https://www.businessinsider.com/second-wave-of-coronavirus-infections-may-peak-in-fall-2020-5). In addition, it seems that by Spring 2021, a vaccine for COVID-19 will have been developed, which will drastically increase general comfort and sense of safety with going to places like DIVERT. In addition to considerations around COVID-19, our alignment with the 2021 Olympics is an absolute game changer for the success of the business. By launching in Spring 2021 it allows us to get up and running, refine our operations, and align ourselves directly with the pre-marketing and rescheduled 2021 Olympics where Skateboarding, Surfing, and freestyle BMX will make their debut. As a result, we will be able to ride the metaphorical wave of Olympic hype and be the go-to place for future Olympic hopefuls to try these sports in their own community. Let's build something great together!For as little as $100, you can invest in DIVERTsessions and join us in our mission to create positive change in countless lives and communities through the power of action sports. Back our project, share our story with your community on your socials and no matter what you do, always push yourself and others to... ## FAQ 1. **I love this idea, and I think you'll be successful. I'm just confused about the terms. Investors here are investing in one location only, and we are sharing the 50% return with any and all other investors in that location? Are we investing in that location in perpetuity, or do...** - Hey Alan,This is Zach Adamson, Founder and CEO of DIVERT. Thank you for the belief and the questions! I am happy to answer them! I will look to answer them one by one below. Discussion about terms can sometimes get dense, so if we find ourselves going back and forth too much, I am happy to jump on a quick call. Your Question: Investors here are investing in one location only, and we are sharing the 50% return with any and all other investors in that location? Are... 2. **Thanks Zach, that all makes sense. It seems reasonable, but am I correct to assume that there is a possibility that in only 6 months there is not enough profit to pay investors back their 110%, let alone an additional share of any profits? So the most likely scenario is that i...** - Hey Alan, Of course, as with any investment, there is inherent risk of loss, which I know you are totally aware of. While there is no guarantee of total payback, and one scenario is that investors would roll their investment into the company, there are other possible scenarios as well. While I am not legally allowed to share our financial projections, I am allowed to share some metrics that I think will help provide some clarity around what would need to happen for us to pay our investor... 3. **I understand you will be raising your maximum. When is the deadline to invest?** - Hey Maria,That is correct. Once we hit $500k we will be raising the maximum to make more room for investors like yourself. It is looking like we will be raising the maximum during the week of September 21st and we will look to leave the campaign open until we reach $750k or more. It is worth mentioning that you are able to invest at anytime. Even if we have reached our $500k goal, you are still able to invest and we will simply take it as an oversubscription. Does this answer y... 4. **The greats of Xtreme sports would have shunned a centralized approach to their skill development. They became great by seeking out challenging environments that were unknown and therefore greatly enhancing their skill development. Xtreme sports became popular, not because the ...** - Hey KG, We appreciate your perspective. We have grown up as Action Sports athletes pushing the boundaries that you allude to above. However, we realized that we are very fortunate because of where we come from to even have those experiences. The reality is that the majority of the population can not currently fathom participation because of monetary, geographic and even intimidation barriers. All which are solvable, and all which we hope to solve in a safe, affordable welcoming... 5. **Do you have the first location decided?** - Hey Nathan! Thank you for the question! Our first location will be in Southern California! Our priority location is in Los Angeles, CA at the Del Amo mall in Torrance. We also have a back up contingency site in Orange County at the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana if Los Angeles County proves to try and delay our project or restrict our operating capacity too greatly. Orange County has proven to have much lower case counts, and as a result, much lower restrictions on business operations. We will b... ## Team - Zach Adamson (Founder & CEO ) - David Monhait (Co-Founder & President ) - Zach Shor (Investor & Chairman) - Matthew Palmer (Head of Marketing) - Eric Klaff (Investor & Head of Operations) - Jovar Andrews (Head of Production) - Marcus Howard (Head of Activation) - Ashley Robinson (Head of Strategic Growth ) ## Recent posts - Update and Closing Soon! (2021-07-23T04:39:01Z) - DIVERT's First Two Weeks (2021-07-13T13:32:10Z) - DIVERT IS LIVE!! (2021-06-29T15:06:48Z) - DIVERT'S DRIVE TO LIVE: WE GOT OUR BUILD PERMIT!!!! (2021-06-21T12:43:07Z) - DIVERT’s Drive To Live VI (2021-06-01T14:47:51Z) - DIVERT'S DRIVE TO LIVE! Post III (2021-05-25T16:00:03Z) - DIVERT’S Drive to Live! (2021-05-18T13:36:32Z) - DIVERT'S DRIVE TO LIVE! (2021-05-13T18:35:01Z) - DIVERTsessions Permitting and Production Update (2021-03-23T23:33:53Z) - SoCal Stay at Home Order Lifted! (2021-02-07T17:23:50Z) - DIVERT: GRIND THROUGH 2020, STOMP 2021 (2020-12-30T17:34:29Z) - DIVERT UPDATE: Second Wave of COVID (2020-11-25T18:50:32Z) - DIVERT In Production Mode (2020-11-10T20:21:12Z) - First Close Summary! (2020-10-27T19:20:23Z) - 4 Days Until First Financial Close (2020-10-20T16:19:59Z) ## Q&A - Q: Hi just curious when do you plan to close? - A: Hey Reginald, Great question. We plan to close this round 2-3 weeks after we open the park! We are looking for another ~$250,000 in investment and we are confident that as we start to build, we have grand opening, the associated new coverage, buzz etc. that we will be able to easily in-fill the remainder of the raise! As for a close date, we are likely looking at Mid-July as the close date! Please let us know if you have any follow-on questions and we will be happy to answer them! Thanks for your interest and support! Zach Adamson - Q: I just got your updated email about the opening in my spam mail. Congrats on the opening. Can you video tape the grand opening and how the entertainment facility looks for your investors? Thank you in advance, looking forward with excitement to see your idea come to fruition. - A: Hey Mario! Of Course! We have an EPIC grand opening planned and have our content team scheduled to make sure to capture every possible detail to share with our investors and DIVERT community! Did you know that if you invest $500 or more that you are rewarded a ticket to grand opening which is one of the very few ways that you are able to get an invite? If you wanted to experience grand opening for real instead of just watching the video recap, hit us up, ask us questions and we would love to have you get in here as an investor and grand opening legend! Please reach out to me directly if you are interested zach@divertbrands.com! Zach Adamson Founder and CEO DIVERTbrands - Q: Do you have the first location decided? - A: Hey Nathan! Thank you for the question! Our first location will be in Southern California! Our priority location is in Los Angeles, CA at the Del Amo mall in Torrance. We also have a back up contingency site in Orange County at the MainPlace Mall in Santa Ana if Los Angeles County proves to try and delay our project or restrict our operating capacity too greatly. Orange County has proven to have much lower case counts, and as a result, much lower restrictions on business operations. We will be making a final determination on the site by the end of January so we are able to hit our original launch timeline of Spring 2021. Please let us know if this sufficiently answers your question or if you have any others! - Q: The greats of Xtreme sports would have shunned a centralized approach to their skill development. They became great by seeking out challenging environments that were unknown and therefore greatly enhancing their skill development. Xtreme sports became popular, not because the athletes performed well on engineered tracks, but because the pioneers of extreme sports took risk and pushed the limits of their sport. If you want to open a skate park (nothing new), then that is totally fine and your goal of providing a place for at-risk youths to better spend their time is worthwhile and investable. But please dont market this as some innovative space for extreme sports hopefuls. Also, marketing this is as a COVID-safe space is soooo disingenuous. For one: the country will get past the epidemic. Two: being outdoor already satisfies most government requirements for social distancing. If the tenants in your locations are within 6 feet of each other...they are probably not safe anyway...COVID or not. I just dont see the opportunity here..at least the way it is marketed. Seems similar to marketing gluten-free foods that are naturally gluten-free. - A: Hey KG, We appreciate your perspective. We have grown up as Action Sports athletes pushing the boundaries that you allude to above. However, we realized that we are very fortunate because of where we come from to even have those experiences. The reality is that the majority of the population can not currently fathom participation because of monetary, geographic and even intimidation barriers. All which are solvable, and all which we hope to solve in a safe, affordable welcoming space called DIVERT.If you do not see the opportunity and are uncertain about the value proposition here, then we are probably not a great fit for you. If you have any questions we would be happy to answer them. Take care,-Zach - Q: I understand you will be raising your maximum. When is the deadline to invest? - A: Hey Maria,That is correct. Once we hit $500k we will be raising the maximum to make more room for investors like yourself. It is looking like we will be raising the maximum during the week of September 21st and we will look to leave the campaign open until we reach $750k or more. It is worth mentioning that you are able to invest at anytime. Even if we have reached our $500k goal, you are still able to invest and we will simply take it as an oversubscription. Does this answer your question?? I am happy to help answer any additional questions you may have! We greatly appreciate your consideration and support of the DIVERT mission.  - Q: I love this idea, and I think you'll be successful. I'm just confused about the terms. Investors here are investing in one location only, and we are sharing the 50% return with any and all other investors in that location? Are we investing in that location in perpetuity, or does something change when you open a second facility? What would the new terms be if we keep our money in when the second facility opens? How are our returns protected against profits being reinvested in the business, either for marketing and such, or opening more facilities? Different question: Why only 500K? Thanks! - A: Hey Alan,This is Zach Adamson, Founder and CEO of DIVERT. Thank you for the belief and the questions! I am happy to answer them! I will look to answer them one by one below. Discussion about terms can sometimes get dense, so if we find ourselves going back and forth too much, I am happy to jump on a quick call. Your Question: Investors here are investing in one location only, and we are sharing the 50% return with any and all other investors in that location? Are we investing in that location in perpetuity, or does something change when you open a second facility?Our Answer: This investment is an investment in the first location which is a 6-month pop-up experience with an option to cash out after the 6-month pop-up is over or convert your principal + earnings into the DIVERTsessions 1 Inc company at a 15% discount. This entity will develop, own and operate future DIVERTsessions facilities which will entitle you to the associate upside of those facilities for as long as you are an investor/owner. Investors will receive all profits from the pop-up until they are paid back their principal investment + a 10% premium. After you have been paid back 110% on your investment, we then split the remaining profit 50% to the investment pool (you will receive your pro rata share of this 50%) and 50% to the company DIVERTsessions 1 Inc. Your Question: What would the new terms be if we keep our money in when the second facility opens? Our Answer: The terms would be written as a convertible note for the amount you would like to keep in the DIVERTsessions 1 Inc. company after the Pop-Up is over. When the company and its investors determine it is a suitable time to set a valuation of the company you would receive a 15% discount on the price/share and you would own your pro rata share of the company which is calculate as your investment w/ 15% discount divided by the valuation of the company. Your Question: How are our returns protected against profits being reinvested in the business, either for marketing and such, or opening more facilities? Our Answer: We have selected an accredited lead investor for this campaign named Matt Dillon. He invested substantial capital in this project ($75k) and he will represent the investors in decisions when it comes to what is reasonable and what is not for what should be distributed to investors and what should be used to reinvest in the growth of the company. As a major investor, his interest in short term returns via payouts/dividends and supporting long term growth through reasonable reinvestment are very substantial and aligned with the investor interests. Essentially, his job is to is protect investors from the company taking profits and reinvesting them unfairly, as his interests are aligned with the investors. Why only 500K?We are actually in the process of raising our maximum to $1,070,000 because the campaign has gone so well. This will allow us to service more sports and education sessions which means higher earning potential and social impact. Please let me know if these suitably answer your questions or if there is anything else I can help answer! We greatly appreciate your support and consideration and look forward to building DIVERT together.  - Q: Thanks Zach, that all makes sense. It seems reasonable, but am I correct to assume that there is a possibility that in only 6 months there is not enough profit to pay investors back their 110%, let alone an additional share of any profits? So the most likely scenario is that investors here are mostly going to roll into the full company at that 15% discount? - A: Hey Alan, Of course, as with any investment, there is inherent risk of loss, which I know you are totally aware of. While there is no guarantee of total payback, and one scenario is that investors would roll their investment into the company, there are other possible scenarios as well. While I am not legally allowed to share our financial projections, I am allowed to share some metrics that I think will help provide some clarity around what would need to happen for us to pay our investors back. The success of our business will be based on the utilization of the park during its 6-month run. The park naturally has an operational capacity and the utilization rate is how effectively we are able to fill that capacity with paying guests. If we hit 17% utilization during non-peak hours (kids are in school and people are at work) and 42% utilization during peak hours (kids are out of school and people are out of work) as an average across the lifetime of the pop-up, we should be able to pay our investors back their principal + premium and then some. Naturally, there is a lot of room for growth there. Just to be clear, this is based on a through model, but a model non the less and for legal coverage it is worth mentioning that a model and reality seldom align perfectly. If we are unable to pay our investors back, yes they would have the option to roll the investment into the company, and still participate in the future potential of DIVERTsessions 1 inc. I hope that gives you some insight into how we believe this would need to perform in order to pay back the full investment pool. Please feel free to ask any additional questions! We greatly appreciate the support and interest in the project!