Israeli global equity crowdfunding platform OurCrowd has today announced the launch of its 13th fund, ADvantage. The new $50 million fund will focus exclusively on sports-tech, and was co-founded with leAD Sports, a global sports tech accelerator backed by the Adi Dassler Family Office (ADIFO).
ADvantage will initially invest in 15 early-stage sports tech ventures primed for growth, including companies providing next-generation fan engagement and experience; solutions for connected athletes and communities; and startups in the derivative sports space, including eSports, new and fantasy sports.
The fund will be co-managed by two active and veteran venture capitalists with a domain-specific sports tech expertise: OurCrowd’s Jeremy Pressman and leAD Sports’ Christoph Sonnen.
Jeremy Pressman, ADvantage Partner and Israel’s only active venture capitalist who is also a professional athlete, has been focused on sourcing and conducting due diligence on sports tech deals for over five years.
He said, "Sports tech is a new and emerging sector with some 4,000 companies worldwide and over $5 billion invested over the past five years. ADvantage will build on the momentum of OurCrowd’s successful investment in Replay Technologies, which was acquired by Intel for $180m. We are excited to continue bringing emerging technologies to our over 25,000 investors and paving the way for the next generation of sports tech startups."
ADvantage Partner Christoph Sonnen is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned venture capitalist with vast experience in venture building and early stage investments. One of Red Bull’s founding employees, Sonnen has founded, invested, built and sold multiple business ventures over the past two decades.
He said, I believe that defining the future of sports tech requires new approaches, macro level overview on future trends and a solid eco-system of innovative partners. This latest announcement of a $50mil investment fund together with OurCrowd, one of the world’s most prominent investment platforms, focused on ventures disrupting the sports industry, brings us a step closer in becoming a global powerhouse for sports entrepreneurship."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 1, 2018
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