A former executive at Version1, an esports venture launched by the owners of the Minnesota Vikings, is joining Deepwater Asset Management, the Minneapolis investment firm led by analyst Gene Munster.
Michael Olson, who most recently served as chief financial officer for Version1, will be a venture partner at Deepwater's next venture fund that's expected to launch the second quarter, according to an announcement made this week.
The firm did not provide a dollar figure for this next fund, but did say the first fund totaled $25 million.
Version1 owns and operates esports teams that compete in professional Call of Duty, Rocket League and Valorant leagues. It's majority owned by Wilf Innovative Sports & Entertainment, or WISE Ventures, an investment fund launched by the Wilf family, including Minnesota Vikings co-owners Leonard Wilf, Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf, in 2018.
In his role with Version1, Olson led the organization’s strategic direction and oversaw financials and certain analytics. He also currently serves as CFO of PowerUp Acquisition Corp., a NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company, the announcement says.
In his new role, Olson, who also spent nearly two decades doing tech-focused equity research for Piper Sandler, will work with management teams of Deepwater’s current portfolio companies to help them scale their businesses, according to the announcement. He will also help identify new investment opportunities.
In an interview Olson said that periods of volatility and uncertainty in the VC environment — like right now —often become the best times to make investments.
“I think we’re entering one of the best periods to deploy capital into startups of the past several decades," Olson said in the announcement. "Now is the time for Deepwater to be more aggressive in venture.”
The hiring comes after Deepwater earlier this year announced itself as a new brand – it was formerly known as Loup Ventures – and a range of new funds, including a series of venture funds, long-growth fund, a public-private hybrid fund, a frontier tech index and separately managed accounts, the Business Journal previously reported.
The firm is run by well-known tech analyst Munster and others in the investing space, including partners Joe Robillard, Doug Clinton and Andrew Murphy.
“We’re excited to expand the range of funds we offer our investment partners to take advantage of the opportunities we’re seeing in the private markets,” Munster said in the announcement. “Mike‘s unique combination of tech analysis and operational experience makes him a great fit to help build our next chapter in venture.”
