Argentinian soccer superstar Lionel Messi is launching an investment firm in San Francisco that will focus on sports, media and technology investments around the world, according to Bloomberg.
Play Time Sports-Tech HoldCo LLC, the holding company that will serve as Messi's primary investment vehicle, will be run by Silicon Valley VC Razmig Hovaghimian, who is a partner at Graph Ventures. Hovaghimian also co-founded the soccer video game company Matchday and counts Play Time as one of its first investors.
Code Advisor co-founder Michael Marquez will serve as a special adviser.
“I am excited to extend our roots into Silicon Valley, and I am thrilled that Play Time will collaborate with daring entrepreneurs from all over the world," Messi said in a statement. "I hope that through its success Play Time will help many people and have a positive impact on the world. I trust in the team and our partners to achieve our objectives.”
The announcement comes just a month before Messi and the Argentinian National Team compete in the World Cup in Qatar, which he has said will be his last.
Messi is jumping into an increasingly crowded field of celebrity sports investors operating in the Bay Area. Most notably tennis star Serena Williams with her VC firm Serena Ventures (she spoke at the Disrupt conference) and Steph Curry with Pennyjar Capital. Check out the gallery below for others.
These Bay Area athletes have money in the (startup) game
In 2014, tennis superstar Serena Williams founded her own venture firm, Serena Ventures, which is based in San Francisco. It has invested in about four dozen companies, according to PitchBook. Investments include Daily Harvest, Tonal, Master Class and Olly.
Serena Ventures
Warriors point guard Steph Curry, pictured here with his wife Ayesha Curry, has been an angel investor for around eight years and has invested in more than a dozen companies, according to PitchBook, including Tonal, Brandless, Miro and Oxigen water.
Ron Leuty
Warriors guard Klay Thompson has been angel investing since 2019, according to PitchBook, and his portfolio includes Crosschq, Tonal and Dapper Labs.
Dominic DiSaia Photographs/BodyArmor
Warriors guard Andre Iguodala is an angel investor, an adviser at Menlo Park-based Concrete Rose Capital and has been a venture partner at Comcast Ventures since 2020. His investments include Lime, Dapper Labs, Allbirds, Casper and Shef, according to PitchBook.
Todd Johnson | San Francisco Business Times
Warriors forward Draymond Green co-founded 100K Ventures, an accelerator based in Flint, Michigan. He's also an angel investor and his portfolio includes Snackpass, Kin, Lobos 1707 and LARQ, according to PitchBook.
Todd Johnson | San Francisco Business Times
NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana played with the 49ers from 1979 until 1992 and went on to co-found the San Francisco-based firm Liquid 2 Ventures where he is a managing partner. The firm's portfolio includes GitLab, Rippling, True Pill and Nurx.
WellCare/PRNewswire
Former 49ers quarterback Kyle Kaepernick played with the team from 2011-2016 when he opted out of his contract. Kaepernick famously started kneeling during the national anthem to protest the oppression of Black and other people of color in the U.S. Since the controversy, he hasn't resigned with any other NFL teams and instead signed on as co-chair of a SPAC called Mission Advancement Corp. in early 2021, which will have an ESG and DEI focus. The SPAC went public in March 2021 and intends to acquire a consumer business valued upwards of $1 billion. Kaepernick has also invested in SpaceX, Apeel, Mmhmm, Valence and Bunch, according to an SEC filing.
Huntley Paton | Business Journals
Play Time did not give details amount of funds it plans to invest, only that it will be "stage agnostic" and invest in companies at various maturity stages and locations. It has also invested in the soccer tech startup AC Momento.
