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Kansas City and San Francisco may make for a good Sunday football game, but not when it comes to the amount of venture capital in both regions.
The City by the Bay has been a dominant venture market since venture capital became popular.
Meanwhile, when it comes to venture, Kansas City has some great barbecue.
But the two teams facing each other in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday have several players in the venture and investment world looking for touchdowns as well.
Now, let’s take a closer look at which players from each team are trying to break into the venture game.
travis kelsey
When Travis Kelsey makes headlines, it’s usually not because of his startup investments (and we’re not going to delve into his Taylor Swift investment).
Nevertheless, the tight end in the world for the Kansas City Chiefs has five investment deals in the startup world, according to Crunchbase data.
Investors in Touchdown Machine include Mexico City-based fantasy sports platform Draftea, as well as Irvine, California-based alkaline steam-distilled water startup ZenWtr, and Park City, Utah-based bakery company Kodiak Cakes. is included.
Kelce is also an investor in Hydrow, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based developer of connected indoor rowing machines that has raised more than $300 million to date.
george kittle
Kelce also shares an investment with another Super Bowl All-Pro tight end, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers.
Kelce and the former Hawkeye great are both investors in Ann Arbor, Michigan-based RealTruck.Com. Investors in the aftermarket truck parts and accessories startup actually include Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and his NBA player boyfriend CJ McCollum.
patrick mahomes
The two biggest tight ends in the game may have topped this list, but the biggest star playing Sunday is clearly the great Patrick Mahomes.
The QB and former NFL MVP actually has a small portfolio of his own, investing in both Irvine-based recovery and exercise enhancement startup HyperIce and Boston-based Whoop.
Whoop, which has developed a platform that helps athletes improve performance by tracking their recovery, training, and even sleep time, has raised a whopping $405 million and is closing on a $200 million Series F in 2021, according to Crunchbase. After the acquisition, it was valued at $3.6 billion.
chase young
According to Crunchbase, the 49ers player looking to corner Mahomes, late-season addition Chase Young, has his own portfolio company.
Young is an investor in Accelerator Active Energy, a Southern California-based energy drink startup. Young, along with other professional athletes Aaron Judge and Brooks Koepka, invested $29 million in the company in 2022.
Let’s see if that gives him enough energy to fire Mahomes on Sunday.
deebo samuel
Aside from Mahomes, perhaps the most notable player in this game is the 49ers’ Mr. Do-It-All Deebo Samuel.
How does Samuel do it all?
Obviously the tart cherry juice was to blame.
OK, that’s probably not true — his 6-foot, 215-pound frame and cat-like elusiveness probably have something to do with it — but he’s a New York-based Cheribandi investor.
The South Carolina-born wideout participated in the company’s 2022 venture round, along with other big-name athletes including NBA player Tyrese Haliburton, WNBA player Michaela Onyenwere and women’s soccer player Lindsey Horan.
Since cherry bandi is part of Samuel’s daily nutritional routine, he should be given cherry juice on Sundays. Let’s see if that gives him enough of an edge for the 49ers to take home the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the night.
In addition to these players, 49ers owner and CEO Jed York runs his own family office firm, Aurum Partners, according to regulatory filings last year. The company was reportedly considering raising $50 million as its debut VC fund.
York has been a longtime investor with Aurum Partners, whose deal includes becoming an early investor in shoe maker Allbirds.
What does all this mean for Sunday’s big game?
Absolutely nothing, but if you’re more interested in startups than pork rinds, who would invest in something that probably gives you a deep-rooted interest?
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Photo: All-Pro Reels, District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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