Monarch Collective LLC, a brand-new venture capital firm focused exclusively on investing in women's sports, has added University of Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams to its limited partner team, said Kara Nortman, Los Angeles-based co-founder of Monarch and co-founder of the National Women's Soccer League team the Angel City Football Club, in a LinkedIn post.
The new firm has raised about $115 million so far, surpassing its $100 million fundraising target, said Jasmine Robinson, co-founder and managing partner of Monarch Collective in an email.
"It's a hard fundraising market generally, however we had strong interest/support from LPs and were able to close on capital above our target in (approximately) six months of fundraising," she said.
The firm expects to hold a final close of the fund, which has a $150 million hard cap, in September.
Mr. Williams, who is expected to be a top pick in the 2024 NFL draft, is joining an all-star lineup of investors. So far, the roster for Monarch's first fund, Monarch Collective Fund LP, includes tennis champion Billie Jean King; Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden; Lydia Jett, managing partner, Americas, at the SoftBank Vision Fund; and Cindy Holland, former content chief of Netflix Inc. and current CEO of production company, Sister; as well as capital from family offices, pension funds and endowments, Ms. Robinson said.
Ms. Nortman and Ms. Robinson, both managing partners, formed Monarch Collective "through a shared conviction that sports can change hearts, minds and culture," according to a March article by Ms. Nortman on the website Medium.
Ms. Nortman and Ms. Robinson are not exactly investment rookies. Prior to forming Monarch, Ms. Nortman was a partner at Upfront Ventures and Ms. Robinson was a partner at venture capital and private equity firm Causeway.
Ms. Robinson attributes much of Monarch Collective's fundraising success, which was achieved without having to sell a GP stake to a seed investor, to two things.
"I think a lot of that is due to (1) being the only fund in the market focused exclusively on women's sports and (2) the rapid growth of the women's sports ecosystem," she wrote.
