CatchBack Cards: Reinventing Trading Card Collecting

CatchBack Cards is a San Francisco–based startup building a modern platform for trading card collectors who want more excitement, more transparency, and more value from every pack they open. Founded in 2025 and currently active as part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2026 batch, the company operates at the intersection of digital experiences and physical collectibles. Its core mission is simple but ambitious: maximize the thrill of collecting Pokémon and sports cards while removing inefficiencies, mistrust, and unnecessary costs that dominate today’s trading card ecosystem.

At its heart, CatchBack Cards is both a mobile app and a web platform. It allows collectors to create and open custom mystery packs with personalized “chase” cards and clearly defined odds. Unlike traditional mystery packs, which rely on trust and opaque processes, CatchBack Cards uses cryptographically verifiable tooling to prove fairness and randomness. The result is a collecting experience that feels more transparent, more interactive, and fundamentally more aligned with how modern collectors want to engage with their hobby.

Beyond digital pack openings, the platform bridges the physical and digital worlds. Users can open packs digitally, have physical cards shipped to them, receive instant buyback offers paid directly via Venmo or PayPal, or trade cards in a highly liquid $1 marketplace. In doing so, CatchBack Cards positions itself not just as another marketplace, but as infrastructure for a massive and still largely offline industry.

Who Are the Founders Behind CatchBack Cards?

CatchBack Cards was founded by Joseph Zhang, who brings an unusually diverse background to the trading card space. Before starting the company, Zhang worked as a software engineer at AWS, served as a consultant at McKinsey, and later became a software engineer at Nexus. He is also a Gates Scholar and an ISEF finalist, reflecting a strong academic and technical foundation.

Zhang’s personal connection to the product is straightforward and authentic. As he openly states, he quit his job to sell Pokémon cards. That statement, while playful, underscores a deeper truth: CatchBack Cards was not born from abstract market analysis alone, but from lived experience inside the trading card ecosystem. Zhang spent significant time buying, selling, and pricing cards across platforms like eBay, Whatnot, and Instagram, encountering firsthand the inefficiencies and frustrations that collectors face daily.

Working alongside him is cofounder Sophia Kim, with whom Zhang launched the platform as a two-person team. Together, they are building CatchBack Cards with guidance from primary partner Brad Flora and the broader Y Combinator network. Despite the company’s small size, its early traction suggests a team punching well above its weight.

How Big Is the Trading Card Market That CatchBack Cards Is Targeting?

The market CatchBack Cards is addressing is far larger than many outsiders realize. Globally, physical trading cards—including sports cards, Pokémon, and anime franchises like One Piece—represent a market exceeding $20 billion annually. Even after the pandemic-era boom, the category continues to grow at double-digit rates, estimated between 10% and 15% year over year.

Beyond primary retail sales, billions more flow through secondary markets each year. These include graded card sales, private transactions, live box breaks, and peer-to-peer deals conducted across online platforms and in person. One of the most striking aspects of this economy is how offline and fragmented it remains. At regional card shows, millions of dollars can change hands in a single weekend through cash deals and private transactions, often with minimal digital tracking or infrastructure.

CatchBack Cards views this fragmentation not as a barrier, but as an opportunity. The company sees the trading card market as a high-velocity financial system hiding in plain sight—one that is ready for digitization, transparency, and improved liquidity. By creating tools that modernize how collectors create, open, value, and trade cards, CatchBack Cards aims to become a foundational layer in this evolving ecosystem.

What Makes Mystery Packs So Central to CatchBack Cards’ Approach?

Mystery packs have long been a core part of trading card culture. The excitement of opening a pack without knowing what lies inside is central to the hobby’s emotional appeal. However, traditional mystery packs—especially those sold online—are often plagued by trust issues, poor odds, and hidden fees.

CatchBack Cards reimagines the mystery pack from the ground up. Instead of relying on preassembled packs with opaque contents, the platform allows users to create their own mystery packs. Creators can define exactly which cards go into a pool, set personalized odds, and determine risk levels. Buyers, in turn, can see precisely what they are playing for and how likely each outcome is.

To reinforce trust, CatchBack Cards uses cryptographic randomness proofs and open-sources its card selection code. This allows users to independently verify that packs are fair and that odds are honored exactly as advertised. In contrast to physical mystery packs, which cannot replicate this level of transparency, CatchBack’s digital-first approach makes fairness a feature rather than a promise.

How Does CatchBack Cards Blend Digital Pack Opening With Physical Ownership?

One of CatchBack Cards’ most distinctive features is its seamless integration of digital experiences with physical outcomes. Users open packs digitally, enjoying the suspense and immediacy of an online reveal. Once cards are pulled, collectors can choose what happens next.

If a user wants the card, CatchBack Cards will ship the physical item directly to them. If they would rather cash out, the platform provides instant buyback offers, with payments sent straight to Venmo or PayPal. This flexibility allows collectors to treat cards both as sentimental collectibles and as financial assets, depending on their goals.

Additionally, CatchBack Cards digitizes card ownership in a way that allows users to transact rights to cards for just $1 in its marketplace. This approach dramatically reduces friction compared to traditional platforms, where fees, shipping logistics, and fraud concerns often discourage frequent trading. By simplifying transactions, CatchBack Cards aims to unlock greater liquidity and encourage more active participation across the market.

Why Is Trust Such a Core Theme in CatchBack Cards’ Product Design?

Trust is a recurring pain point in the trading card world, particularly when it comes to blind packs and online marketplaces. Many collectors have been burned by mystery packs stuffed with low-value cards, misleading odds, or excessive fees hidden in shipping and listings. Platforms often extract value at every step, leaving users feeling exploited rather than excited.

CatchBack Cards was built in direct response to these frustrations. The company’s emphasis on cryptographic verification, open-source logic, and user-controlled pack creation is designed to shift power back to collectors. Instead of asking users to trust the platform blindly, CatchBack Cards provides mathematical proof and transparent systems that can be independently validated.

This focus on trust extends to pricing as well. By offering a $1 marketplace and reducing unnecessary fees, CatchBack Cards seeks to maximize dollar value for collectors. The concept of “maximal cashback” is central to the brand, reflecting a philosophy that collectors should retain more of the value they create and discover.

Who Is CatchBack Cards Built For?

CatchBack Cards primarily serves two overlapping groups: collectors and creators. Collectors include individuals who regularly open mystery packs, speculate on card values, or build long-term collections. These users value excitement, fairness, and liquidity, and they are often active across multiple platforms and communities.

Creators, on the other hand, include Pokémon and sports card sellers who already operate on Instagram, Discord, and live marketplaces. For them, CatchBack Cards offers infrastructure to scale their operations, create custom experiences for their audiences, and build trust through transparent odds and verifiable randomness.

By catering to both sides of the market, CatchBack Cards positions itself as a hub rather than a single-purpose tool. The platform enables creators to design compelling products while giving collectors a safer, more rewarding way to participate.

What Traction Has CatchBack Cards Achieved So Far?

CatchBack Cards officially launched its iOS app on January 25, 2026, marking a significant milestone for the young company. Since launch, the platform has grown to approximately 700 users and reached $13,000 in monthly recurring revenue. According to the team, growth is accelerating week over week, suggesting strong product-market fit within its target audience.

The company is also preparing for a high-profile joint collaboration with Steph Curry’s trading card company, signaling growing interest from established players in the space. These early partnerships not only validate CatchBack Cards’ approach but also open doors to broader distribution and credibility within the collector community.

What Is the Long-Term Vision for CatchBack Cards?

Looking ahead, CatchBack Cards aims to become the default platform for transparent, high-liquidity trading card transactions. By digitizing ownership, reducing friction, and embedding trust directly into its systems, the company envisions a future where trading cards function more like a modern financial asset class—without losing the joy and nostalgia that define the hobby.

The founders see CatchBack Cards as more than an app. They view it as a foundation for a reimagined collectibles economy, one where technology improves fairness, accessibility, and value distribution. As the trading card market continues to grow and evolve, CatchBack Cards is positioning itself to ride that wave by building tools that collectors actually want to use.

In an industry defined by excitement, speculation, and community, CatchBack Cards is betting that transparency and trust can be just as thrilling as the chase itself.