Angel City founder Kara Nortman and venture capitalist Jasmine Robinson have launched Monarch Collective, a new US$100 million fund for women’s sports.
Confirmed:
- Tennis icon Billie Jean King invests in new venture capital fund, which will target ‘untapped opportunity’ in women’s sports globally
- Monarch Collective’s advisor roster includes 49ers Enterprises president Paraag Marathe, SoftBank managing partner Lydia Jett, CapitalG managing partner Laela Sturdy, Adobe’s Ashley Still, Netflix’s Cindy Holland and Hello Sunshine’s Sarah Harden
- Fund to focus on investment into women’s teams, leagues and organisations
- Emphasis placed on facilitate economic and sociological change on both locally, as well as globally
Context:
In addition to her National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) franchise investment, Nortman has more than two decades of experience as a business investor and operator. Robinson meanwhile has experience of working for Raine Group and Causeway, while previously served as the San Francisco 49ers’ business operations manager.
Comment:
‘One of our dreams for Monarch is to show the world that fans will pay as much to watch women as they will men,’ Nortman wrote in an article shared on Medium. ‘While both men and women watch sports in nearly equal numbers, women control more discretionary spend than people realise, making them a highly coveted demographic for brands and media companies.
‘Angel City is just one team, in one city, playing one sport. What we saw with our [Los Angeles] team is now happening in the US and all over the world.’
Coming next:
A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey of industry executives found that 70 per cent of projected revenues from women’s sport to grow a further 15 per cent over the next three to five years.
