Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Life After Sport - what’s next - VC as an asset class has appeal to elite athletes




The big fear many elite athletes have is


 “life after sport - what’s next? “


AFL Giant Matt DeBoer has  set up Athletic Ventures - together with over 100 top elite stars who  co-invest into the potentially lucrative asset class of venture capital .


It has the lure of high risk and high return 


Athletic Ventures members include Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, Australian NBA star Matthew Dellavedova, beach volleyball star Christie Jenkins, test cricketer Mitchell Starc, and 2022’s Australian of the Year, the tennis player Dylan Alcott. 


It has invested into  burrito chain Guzman y Gomez, toilet paper producer Who Gives A Crap? and online health business Eucalyptus.


They invest  alongside and it’s members are learning from some of Australia’s top venture capital and asset management firms such as Blackbird Ventures, Airtree Ventures and TDM Growth Partners.


There is considerable appeal  to startups for Athletic Ventures to invest in them - they get to have over 100 of the countries top athletes investing in you !


“We can support a company through unique ways such as social media, networking, and mindset...we can add value in ways traditional investors can’t.” Says Matt 


The poster boy is cricket superstar Steve Smith who has amassed a portfolio of investments in startup business such as Koala Mattresses and online photo app Snappr and has an estimated worth $100 million on paper.


Looking forward to see Athletic ventures go from strength to strength !!

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