Philadelphia-based venture firm SeventySix Capital has closed an initial round of a fund that will focus on sports betting, esports and sports tech companies, attracting an investor roster that includes Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and retired NFL running backs DeMarco Murray and Brian Westbrook.
The fund is expected to raise at least $50 million. It comes on the heels of the sale earlier this year of three of the firm’s portfolio companies: Sports betting network VSiN to DraftKings, sportsbook operator Vigtory to FuboTV and digital media company Team Whistle to Eleven Sports. It is SeventySix Capital's second fund to focus on these sectors.
SeventySix Capital's current portfolio includes at least two from the Pittsburgh area — Diamond Kinetics and C360 Technologies.
Diamond Kinetics, based in Pittsburgh’s North Side, is the developer of motion data and analytics used to help baseball and softball players from kids to professionals improve their skills. Nutting first invested in the company in 2015.
Wexford-based C360 Technologies is a sports video company whose app allows users to livestream games on mobile devices and customize viewing via C360 cameras placed at various angles within venues.
Other investors in the new fund include Buffalo Bills wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, Philadelphia Union captain and U.S. men’s national soccer team player Alejandro Bedoya and retired New England Patriots running back James Develin, along with Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.
“There is absolutely an appetite right now for anyone and everyone in sports to want to have access to what we might call the next thing in sports,” said Wayne Kimmel, managing partner of SeventySix Capital. “They’re looking for exposure to the innovative new sports betting startups and esports startups and sports tech startups. All of those. Whatever is next, they want to be in it. They believe, as we do, that there are going to be some extraordinary opportunities in those areas over these next 10 years.”
SeventySix Capital expects to announce investments in at least three new portfolio companies in the coming weeks.
Bill King is a senior writer at Sports Business Journal, a sister publication.
Patty Tascarella contributed to this article.
