Champion Ventures, formed in 1999 by Montana's former San Francisco 49er teammates Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton, raised its first $40 million last year from investors such as football players Troy Aikman, Jerry Rice and Steve Young, baseball player Barry Bonds, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and basketball player Steve Kerr.
Finances for this year's fund will come from 250 investors, including tennis star Andre Agassi, Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson, boxer Oscar De La Hoya, coach Steve Mariucci, and a raft of other sports headliners, the firm said.
``The fact that many of our original investors chose to invest again was very gratifying for us, but we are also very excited about the high quality of the new investors we have attracted,'' Barton said.
Champion Ventures is open only to selected sports professionals and invests exclusively in other venture capital funds, providing its investors with access to funds that are normally closed to almost all individual investors.
The firm has also promoted social interaction, allowing venture capitalists to rub shoulders with some of the greatest athletes in the country.
Montana, considered by many fans to be one of the best quarterbacks ever to play professional football, said he was eager to help more athletes find good investments for their money, which is often earned during a brutally short professional life.
``I am really pleased to join my friends Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton as the third general partner of Champion Ventures,'' Montana said in a prepared statement. ``They have created an excellent investment opportunity for athletes, and I look forward to working more closely with them to continue bridging the gap between the sports world and Silicon Valley.''
Reuters
A Silicon Valley venture capital firm which helps professional athletes channel cash into high-tech investments has raised an additional $150 million in financing and signed up football great Joe Montana as a general partner.
