Monarch Collective, a billionaire-backed investment firm, has expanded its fund in view of the continued growth in women’s sports.
The fund, founded in 2023, will expand from $150 million to $250 million, with most of the additional capital coming from existing investors, including Pivotal Ventures of Melina French Gates, Sarah Harden, CEO of Hello Sunshine, and former Netflix executive executives Cindy Holland and Partner Annie Imhoff.
New investors have also joined the ship, including Beth Brooke, former vice president of global public policy for Ernst & Young, and Elizabeth Yee, executive vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation program, the company said in an announcement Thursday.
“We’re going to be the biggest fund in the women’s movement,” said Kara Nortman, co-founder and managing partner of the Monarch. “You hear a lot about people starting now, but we’ve been starting for a while.”
Monarch collectives are dedicated to investments in women’s sports, especially in league, team and media rights.
Before the monarch, Nortman worked for a venture capital firm (Venture Capital Firm), formerly co-head of the IAC merger and acquisition group. She also co-founded the National Women’s Football League’s Angel City Football Club in 2020. She also holds investment positions in various companies and in the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.
The monarch usually acquires minority stakes for his investments, but works closely with the owners of the team, Nottman said.
“We are working with control owners to hire teams, design practice facilities, become a sound board when something is right or when something goes wrong, really thinking about the unique fan experience in the (team) market and how it connects to the (team) task,” Nortman said. “And the amount of capital we can pay for it has increased.”
So far, the Monarch has invested in three NWSL teams – Angel City Football Club, Bosch Country and San Diego Inspur. Last year, Angel City Sell Control of journalist Willow Bay and Disney CEO Bob Iger, an estimated $250 million. The company said this is the highest valuation for professional women’s sports teams.
The Monarch is based on years of helping to elevate the Women’s National Basketball Association to Record The ratings of last season, in general, audiences around the women’s sports have already achieved the foundation, Attracting more advertisers.
As a result, investors are eager to participate in growth.
“There is no denying that the women’s movement is booming, and we are pioneers and experts in that area, too. So people have been coming to us and want to work with us to develop business plans or really look at things before they become investable,” said Notman.
The Monarch plans to invest in U.S. and international teams in the near term, according to a press release Thursday.
“We tend to focus on the most mature women’s sports, so we see media revenues that can increase and be very predictable on the road in the right situation,” said Nottman. “The core argument is that we can build breaking or approaching it with team-level revenue.”
For example, WNBA’s media rights may see a price reassessment after the 2028 season to explain its recent growth in popular CNBC Report last year. WNBA media rights are part of the $77 billion NBA protocol that begins next season. The WNBA-specific contract value was $2.2 billion in 11 seasons.
