Insights about athlete-investors #15

Rafa Nadal jumps into startup world; Nico Rosberg and Ryan Reynolds are killing it

May 02, 2024

Hi, it’s Arthur from Athletico Ventures. We help elite athletes invest in startups alongside top tier investors. Here is your regular shot of insights about athlete investors…

Athletico Ventures’ updates

We invested in a couple new exciting businesses in energy transition and AI tools (stealth for now)
Eric Dier and I discussed the evolution of athlete investors in Europe at the Athlete Investor Summit organised by What The Footie (Here)
I was interviewed by Armelle Solelhac on the Outdoor Minds podcast (Here [French])
In an interview by Rohit Malhotra, I shared our thoughts on how European athletes are getting involved in the Tech ecosystem and how it has evolved over the last few years (Lifeselfmastery's podcast)
Many of our LPs joined us for drinks at portfolio company Wethenew. This was a wonderful opportunity for networking and shared learning. (Here)

Deals that caught our attention

Rafael Nadal invests in Playtomic, leading app for booking tennis and padel courts (Tennis World)
Ryan Reynolds-backed fintech Nuvei to be acquired in $6.3B mega deal by Advent (Tech Funding News)
VR gaming company StatusPRO raises $20M a Series A round led by Google Ventures (GV), with Lebron James, Drake, and more reinvesting in the business (Yahoo)
Nourish raises $35M Series A, led by Index Ventures, with participation from soccer player Alex Morgan, to expand access to registered dietitians (Business Wire)
Eight Sleep names Taylor Fritz as athlete ambassador and investor to power the next generation of tennis legends (Business Wire)
Chris Paul, Tinashe, and Quavo invest in Altro's $4M funding round to democratize credit building for everyone (AfroTech)

Companies & funds founded by athletes & celebrities

Former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg’s VC firm launches €70M Fund of Funds (Tech.eu)
Lance Armstrong’s Next Ventures targets $100M 2nd fund (PitchBook)
Jake Paul’s Betr sportsbook startup raises funds at $375M valuation (Bloomberg)
Serena Williams aims to ace the cosmetics industry with WYN Beauty launch (SportsMint)
Cristiano Ronaldo unveils Erakulis: a revolutionary all-in-one wellness app (PR Newswire)
Dwayne Johnson debuts men's grooming line Papatui (People)

Athletes & celebrities investing in sports teams & leagues

LeBron James, Drake, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lindsey Vonn among investors in PGA TOUR Enterprises (PGA Tour)
Tom Brady takes major step towards joining Raiders ownership, TV career (ClutchPoints)
Michael Johnson to co-found professional track and field league (CityAM)
Olympic champion skier Vonn joins Utah Royals ownership group (Pro Soccer Wire)
Pierre Gasly buys stake in semi-pro French football club (Yahoo)

…. and more at the bottom of this email….

Cool content worth watching, reading or listening

Podcast recommendation: Startup Europe - The Sifted Podcast by Sifted editor Amy Lewin

Long form interviews with some of the biggest names in European tech. Amy interviews founders, operators and investors behind the continent's biggest tech companies, to learn what makes them tick and what they've learnt as they've built their businesses. Two of my favourites:

Portfolio news

Wethenew

Wethenew turned 6 (Here)
Wethenew acquired assets from bankrupt competitor Kikikickz, further reinforcing European leadership (Fashion Network)

Sorare

Sorare announced its most ambitious Sorare Pro gameplay update yet (Sorare)

Oura

Interview of Oura’s CMO on The Terra Podcast (Here)
For the second year in a row The Webby Awards has selected ŌURA as a winner! (Webby Awards)

Umiami

Umiami officially launches industrial production of plant-based meat in Alsace, France (Protein Production)

Onibi

Spin-off from portfolio company jam.gg, Onibi, an innovative cross-platform MMO Action RPG, raised $6.5M in seed funding, led by Octopus (Here)

Moka.care

Co-CEO Pierre-Etienne Bidon was interviewed by Les Echos to discuss how to break taboos on mental health (Les Echos)

Scoreplay

Alexis Ohanian explains the power of Scoreplay (X)
CEO Victorien Tixier spoke recently at a SportsPro NYC panel, sharing insights with leaders from 776, NJ/NY Gotham FC, and Meta (Here)

Bonus links

Talents & sports-related

Eric Dier discussed with Gary Neville on The Overlap (YouTube)
Serena Williams' daughter becomes youngest owner of 2 professional sports teams (AfroTech)

More deals

Commonwealth, fractional athlete ownership, raises $4.5M from VCs and recently retired NFL star Larry Fitzgerald Jr. (Sportico)
WNBA Stars Chiney Ogwumike and Alysha Clark become latest athletes to invest in PlayersTV, alongside 70+ athlete including Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Travis Kelce, Dwyane Wade, etc. (Forty Eight Minutes)
NFL legend Ray Lewis backs Winible in $6M Seed funding to advance influencer-driven sports betting platform (Investing.com)
US national soccer superstars, Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, become stakeholders in Toca Football (PR Newswire)
Pau and Marc Gasol join Gravity Wave as investors and lead a round of €500K (Forbes)
Endurance sports legend Matt Fitzgerald joins Athletica.ai backed by Olympian Alistair Brownlee (Endurance Sportswire)
Wizards guard Landry Shamet invests in wellness supplements company, eyes other business deals (Forbes)
Gary Neville backs sports recovery business on Dragons Den (The Business Desk)
Romanian fan-powered platform for football talent secures €1.65M, from various investors including Bournemouth player Emiliano Marcondes (Romania Insider)
NFL star Maxx Crosby joins ZenWTR, producers of premium vapor distilled alkaline water, as newest investor and ambassador (Yahoo)
WNBA Legend Lisa Leslie joins LootMogul, a sports metaverse gaming platform (PR Newswire)
CrewLAB, a team sports management platform, raises $1.6M led by Scott Sandell, with participation from Manning Ventures (Yahoo)
NBA champion Kendrick Perkins joins Edly founders to launch Nilly, a first-of-its-kind nil investment platform (Yahoo)
Trainsweateat, the start-up of influencer Sissy Mua (Les Echos)

🎥Must watch video🎥! Anthony Joshua Vs Francis Ngannou Knockout Chaos Promo

Until next time!

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