Celebrities Who Became Co-Founders and athletes are investing in companies more and more frequently. While those with substantial backgrounds in finance and technology have traditionally dominated the venture capital market, it is becoming increasingly typical to see celebrities participate in start-up financing.
Celebrities Who Became Co-Founders – Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the few Hollywood actors to have had such a successful and lengthy film career. His list of successful start-up investments is very extensive. DiCaprio invests heavily in technological businesses, especially those that are dedicated to environmentally beneficial methods. DiCaprio invested in Casper, an online retailer of mattresses, during its Series B fundraising round. More recently, he made an investment in Rubicon, a platform for trash management software. He also invested in MindMaze, a virtual reality firm from Switzerland that became a unicorn in 2016.
DiCaprio is deeply committed to environmental preservation. Few Celebrities Who Became Co-Founders have invested in numerous sustainable food ventures, like the plant-based milk company California Farms and the animal-free dairy protein company Perfect Day.
– Serena Williams
Off the tennis court, Serena Williams has been honing her financial skills. The tennis pro has put a specific emphasis on assisting businesses run by underrepresented groups. To aid the expansion of early-stage businesses with diverse founders and teams, she established Serena Ventures. More than 50 businesses are included in Serena Ventures’ portfolio. 60% of such businesses were founded by people of color. Start-ups like Daily Harvest, Little Spoon, and The Wing have received funding from VC Companies.
In addition to her venture capital work, Serena sits on the boards of many well-known corporations, such as Postmark and SurveyMonkey. In 2020, she also became a member of the board of directors of Jaws Spitfire Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC.
Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher is building a name for himself in the start-up investing community. His career began with the sitcom that ’70s Show. A-Grade Investments and Sound Ventures are two venture capital firms he founded in California. Kutcher’s venture capital organizations have made profitable investments in start-ups like Spotify, Airbnb, Uber, and others with two old friends, Guy Oseary and Ron Burkle.
Kutcher has been a serious investor for at least ten years, unlike many other Celebrities Who Became co-founders who have recently entered the market. He supported Skype and Foursquare in 2009. When Skype was acquired by Microsoft in 2011, his investment in the video chatting firm yielded a handsome return. Kutcher has made investments in the floral delivery service Bloom That and the mattress start-up Casper.
NASA
Queensbridge Venture Partners was established by the rapper NASA, who is now an experienced early-stage company investor. Nasa’s VC Ventures, which has its headquarters in Los Angeles, is particularly interested in supporting entrepreneurs in the financial, technology, healthcare, and cryptocurrency sectors.
Ring, a producer of smart home goods including doorbells and security cameras, attracted early investment from Queensbridge Venture Partners. Nas’ venture capital firm made a killing when Ring was purchased by Amazon for $1 billion.
Priyanka Chopra
The well-known Indian actress and wife of Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra, is another famous person who invested a lot of money in the dating app Bumble. Whitney Wolfe Herd founded the industry-leading dating app platform. Due to Ms Chopra’s involvement with Bumble, the company was able to successfully publicize its entry into the Indian market.
From: Natalie Portman
The Harvard-educated actress and director has recently invested in a number of startups. Natalie Portman invested in the oat milk company Oatley alongside Oprah and Jay-Z. Oatley is currently valued at almost $2 billion. She backed Bowery Farming, a business in vertical farming, together with Justin Timberlake and other famous people. Last but not least, she invested money in Maven Clinic, a telemedicine firm that offers services for family planning and fertility