# Melanie Strong

> Melanie Strong is a seed investor at NEXT VENTŪRES (Portland) backing Gaming and Medical. See 3 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [NEXT VENTŪRES](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/next-vent%C5%ABres)
- Location: Portland, United States
- Total investments: 3
- Last investment: Apr 2025
- Lead investor: 33%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-strong/

Melanie Strong is a Founding Partner, Health and Wellness VC at NEXT VENTŪRES.Mel has spent most of her life in the sports marketing industry, with 17 years of experience working at Nike leading teams in running, soccer, women’s, training and most currently skateboarding. She’s been at the forefront of the digital sports revolution, launchingNike’s first tracking technology Nike+iPod in 2006, as well as the Nike Run Club app in 2010. She also led the marketing for the launch of Nike’s first digital training tool with the Nike Training Club a year later. Mel has worked extensively in global markets, as the soccer/football marketing leader in Nike’s emerging markets (Latin America, Africa and SE Asia). Most currently she’s been the VP of Marketing for Nike Women and VP/GM of Nike Skateboarding, driving an agenda around innovation, inclusivity, sustainability and access to sports.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gaming | 1 | 33% |
| Medical | 1 | 33% |
| Wellness | 1 | 33% |
| Fertility | 1 | 33% |
| Health Care | 1 | 33% |

6 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 1 | 33% |
| Series A | 1 | 33% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Cofertility | Cofertility is a human-centered fertility ecosystem that provides egg donation and egg-freezing services for fertility care and third-party reproduction. The company provides a normalized and scalable method for egg donation, which transforms the financial model of egg freezing by connecting women who wish to store their eggs with families unableto conceive otherwise. By donating half, women have the opportunity to freeze their eggs at no cost. | $7.3M | Series A | Apr 10, 2025 |  |
| Genopets | Genopets is a non-fungible token (NFT) “move-to-earn” game where players are rewarded for the steps they take in real life. | $8.3M | Seed | Oct 18, 2021 |  |
| Genopets | Genopets is a non-fungible token (NFT) “move-to-earn” game where players are rewarded for the steps they take in real life. | $8.3M | Seed | Oct 18, 2021 |  |

3 of 3 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Everywhere Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/everywhere-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Konvoy](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/konvoy-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Mechanism Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mechanism-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Old Fashion Research](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/old-fashion-research) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Pantera Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/pantera-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Solana Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/solana-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About NEXT VENTŪRES

VC Fund · San Francisco, United States

NEXT VENTŪRES is a venture capital firm that invests in the sports, fitness, health, and wellness markets. With established expertise and deep connections in these markets as well as proven financial track records, the NEXT VENTŪRES team is well positioned to create significant value for their investors and their portfolio companies.The firm wasestablished in 2018 and is based in San Francisco, CA

3 contacts available at NEXT VENTŪRES.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Julian Eison | Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/julian-eison |
| Lance Armstrong | Managing Partner and Founding Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lance-armstrong |
| Melanie Strong | Founding Partner, Health and Wellness VC | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/melanie-strong |

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## FAQ

### What does Melanie Strong invest in?

Melanie Strong invests primarily in Gaming, Medical and Wellness startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Melanie Strong last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Melanie Strong closed in Apr 2025. Shizune tracks 3 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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