Insights about athlete-investors #12
Just drafted #1 pick, Wemby is already playing the NBA investing game
Hi, it’s Arthur from Athletico Ventures. We help elite athletes invest in startups alongside top tier investors. Here is your bi-monthly shot of insights about athlete investors. Lots to digest this time as we are one month late…
Athletico Ventures’ updates
It was a busy quarter for Athletico Ventures:
Impressed with what they have achieved since we joined their Series A, we participated in Wethenew’s 20m€ Series B, alongside Singular and C4 Ventures, also bringing with us a few talents as direct investors
Excited by how Victorien and Xavier have built a must-have solution to automate the media management and distribution of sports content so efficiently, we participated in Scoreplay’s $5m seed round alongside Alexis Ohanian’s 776, Rich Kleiman and Kevin Durant’s 35V, Raphaël Varane, Mario Götze and more
Thrilled by what Guillermo and Yago are building and their velocity, we participated in Life5’s 10m€ Series A, our first investment in Spain, alongside Singular and Mundi Ventures
Together with Martin (Index) and Michelle (Northzone), we organised the 4th edition of the Founders vs. VC football game in Paris. Another win for the founders (link)
Deals that caught our attention
Sports drink Barcode receives investment from Victor Wembanyama (FINSMES)
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes an investor in watch marketplace Chrono24 (Chrono24)
50+ athletes invest in travel marketplace GetYourGuide (Business Wire)
Harry Kane and Wayne Gretzky participate in fitness company Oxefit’s 20m$ Series A (Forbes)
Basketball legend Dirk Nowitzki joins media platform SPORTTOTAL as investor and advisor (eqs news)
Nico Rosberg participates in insurance provider Insify’s 10m€ Series A (TechCrunch)
Nico Rosberg participates in billing SaaS platform Hyperline’s 4m$ Seed round, paving the way for athletes’ investments in B2B companies (LinkedIn)
Messi and Griezmann participate in burger brand Vicio’s 17m€ Series A (LinkedIn)
Paul Gasol launches Gasol16 Ventures to centralise his venture and entrepreneurial activities (Forbes ES)
RX3, the VC firm co-founded by football star Aaron Rodgers has raised $150m from athletes and celebrities for its second fund (Wall Street Journal)
Companies founded by athletes & celebrities
Naomi Osaka’s media arm Hana Kuma receives $5m in funding (Profluence)
Steph Curry launches a new spirit: Gentleman's Cut Kentucky Straight Bourbon (Hypebeast)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, launched a business named Ante, Inc. with his three brothers (Black Enterprise)
Celtics’ Jayson Tatum reveals new candy company project (Yahoo)
Athletes & celebrities investing in sports teams
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney join group investing in Alpine F1 team (ESPN)
Leeds United takeover: 8 athletes including Jordan Spieth, Andre Iguodala, Russell Westbrook and Michael Phelps ‘announced’ as investors among 49ers (Yahoo)
Michael Jordan agrees to sell Hornets stake for $3Bn (ESPN)
Tom Brady acquires minority stake in Las Vegas Raiders (Sports Pro Media)
Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian to own TGL’s Los Angeles golf team (Front Office Sports)
Josh Harris, Magic Johnson submit $6Bn bid for Commanders from Dan Snyder (FanNation)
One Future Football’s virtual worldwide soccer league launches with backing from Blackbird and several athletes incl. Osaka (TechCrunch)
…. and more at the bottom of this email….
Cool content worth watching, reading or listening
Podcast: The Twenty Minute VC (20VC), by Harry Stebbings
A classic… Harry Stebbings interviews the world's greatest venture capitalists (e.g. Benchmark's Bill Gurley) and founders of our time (e.g. Spotify's Daniel Ek). Two really cool episodes:
From Swiss Mountains to NASDAQ IPO: The Story of Three Friends Who Built a Sports Giant with David Allemann, Co-Founder @ On Running (Spotify)
Lessons from Scaling to $600M AUM, with Rob Lacher’s @ La Famiglia and Visionaries Club (Spotify)
Newsletter: Zogblog, by Zack O'Malley Greenburg
Last summer, we presented Zack’s book A-List Angels. This time around we are pleased to share his newsletter on the intersection of music, media, and money. One day you might see an interview with a hip-hop legend; the next, perhaps an indie star; the next, an Olympic athlete or a professional clown or a future NFL Hall of Famer.
Other pieces of content we liked over the past weeks
Investing-related
AI cheat sheet: get the basics right with these 2 simple frameworks (Data-driven VC)
The next era of gaming and AI: and why we’re (even more) bullish on games (NfX)
AI and the automation of work, by Benedict Evans (link)
The unbundling fallacy (Dan Hock)
2023 State of Crypto Report: introducing the State of Crypto Index (a16z)
Nutrition, sleep and mental health advice offered to tech founders at risk of burnout (Financial Times)
Celebrity & sports-related
Chainsmokers on fire: the world’s highest-paid DJs are spinning celebrity into a rock-star portfolio (Forbes)
Alex Pall (Chainsmokers) on how people react when he says he is an investor: “These guys are idiots. Stay in your lane.” (LinkedIn)
Gerard Piqué has seen soccer’s future (The New York Times)
For YouTuber multi-millionaires Rhett & Link, venture capital is the future of creators (CNBC)
Rashaun L. Williams, the man behind NBA players investments (Front Office Sports)
How Michael Jordan became a billion-dollar brand (Boardroom)
VC veteran takes on athlete-bankruptcy problem with new firm (Sportico)
Michelle Wie West dives into angel investing (PitchBook)
ATP & LaLiga launch player education programme (ATP)
The power of athletes to become media companies and transform the game (Forbes)
…. and more at the bottom of this email….
Portfolio news
Wethenew
Wethenew raises €20m from Singular, C4 Ventures and Chalhoub Group (Fashion Network)
Wethenew opens a 3rd corner at Galeries Lafayette Champs Elysées (LinkedIn)
Sorare
Sorare release a comprehensive product update for the 2023-24 football season (Medium)
Oura
One smart ring to rule them all: Oura unveils superapp ambitions (sifted)
Oura/Best Buy partnership brings the smart ring to 850 stores across the US (TechCrunch)
Oura was listed in the 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies (CNBC)
ŌURA acquires Proxy's identity platform and ring patent portfolio to accelerate its technology roadmap (Business Wire)
All Plants
All Plants’ founder Jonathan was featured on BBC (link)
Cowboy
Cowboy bolsters European reach with new Retail Partner Network (Zag Daily)
Cowboy goes Dutch with its latest e-bike, the Cruiser (Tech.eu)
Cowboy rides to the rescue of VanMoof owners with app to unlock threatened bikes (TechCrunch)
Umiami
Umiami has been selected for the French Tech 2030 program (link)
Moka.care
Moka.care continues to welcome super sports guests on its podcast (link)
Until next time!
Bonus links
Deals that caught our attention
NBA superstar Chris Paul joins Wicked Kitchen as investor (PR Newswire)
England women’s soccer star Leah Williamson joins Toca Football (Sportico)
Derek Jeter invests in Meati Foods (Retail Dive)
Hydration brand Cure mixes new funding into its growth plans, with participation from Kim Clijsters (TechCrunch)
Cristiano Ronaldo wants to buy the Portuguese media leader Cofina group (News In France)
CAA’s CONNECT Ventures participates in Slash’s $19m funding round (Tech Funding News)
Link My Ride, a social cycling app, secured investment from Valtteri Bottas, Tiffany and more (The Sports Playmaker)
Paris Hilton participates in Fireside’s $25m Series A (TechCrunch)
Penny Hardaway announces first-of-its-kind partnership with Tradeblock, as brand ambassador and investor (Slam)
Goals scores $20m Series A to develop esports ready soccer game, with participation from Riqui Puig and Clement Langlet (VentureBeat)
Olympic legend Sir Chris Hoy-backed Skarper gets £4m to turn regular bikes into e-bikes in seconds (Tech Funding News)
NBA players Terance Mann and Duncan Robinson invest in beverage brand Slate Milk’s $10m Series A (FanNation)
Mamadou Sakho invests in Bloks and become their Chief Impact Officer (Maddyness)
Karim Benzema makes his first Tech investment by joining Trendex (Maddyness)
Norris, Sargeant among latest investors in F1 Arcade (SportBusiness)
Goalpher gets a new co-founder in French soccer star Patrice Evra (Profluence)
Francis Ngannou signs deal with Professional Fighters League, including equity (The New York Times)
Athletes & celebrities investing in sports teams
The National Cycling League raised $7.5m in seed financing from a group including a cast of NBA and NFL stars (Cycling Weekly)
NWSL Bay FC adds Andre Iguodala to investor group (Sport Pro Media)
Drogba is E1’s newest team owner ahead of first electric boat racing season (Electrek)
Two of Germany’s leading sports stars, Sebastian Vettel and Erik Heil, became team owner of the Germany SailGP Team (SailGP)
Celebrity & sports-related
No longer just a talent agency, Wasserman launches division to invest in sports and entertainment (Forbes)
The athlete Family Office, and its increasing popularity (Profluence Sports)
The blueprint athlete, by Mario Götze (LinkedIn)
After Travis Kelce spent every penny of his $1m rookie contract... He 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 to become one of the best athlete entrepreneurs alive (Profluence)
Mathieu Flamini: from protecting Arsenal defence (and pain of 2008)… to protecting the planet as founder of GFBiochemicals (The Athletic)