The Monarch Collective is the brand new $100M women's sports fund

The GIST: A new investment fund is ready to be crowned. On Monday, venture capitalists Kara Nortman and Jasmine Robinson launched the Monarch Collective, a $100M fund that eyes the entire untapped ecosystem of women’s sports in an effort to break away from the pack.

The investors: Outside of Robinson and Nortman, a co-founder of the NWSL’s Angel City, the fund counts tennis icon Billie Jean King, CapitalG’s Laela Sturdy and ex-Netflix VP Cindy Holland as investors. Additional backers include Softbank’s Lydia Jett, Forerunner’s Kirsten Green and USWNTPA executive director Becca Roux.

The details: The Monarch Collective will target sports with large global or domestic audiences, like women’s soccer and basketball, and invest in their sports teams and leagues. The fund will also support other revenue opportunities in women’s sports, such as media platforms and gaming.

• The collective aims to build content that attracts women-focused advertisers and entice further investment from experts who are familiar with the operational rigor of men’s sports.

The context: Private equity (PE) is no sports rookie. U.S. sports leagues scored $2B from PE firms in 2021, and sports-focused VC funds are surging. Finance bros Investors have largely ignored women’s sports, though Nortman and Robinson aren’t the only ones trying to change that — PE firm Sixth Street owns the incoming Bay Area NWSL club.

Zooming out: As the value of women’s sports teams and leagues grows exponentially, initiatives like the Monarch Collective and Trailblazer Venture Studio are noticing the business potential of other underfunded verticals in the space and banking on the idea that ROI explosion will influence the entire ecosystem. Show them the money.