# Top 50 Sporting Goods Startup Investors in June 2026

## Aster
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 5
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: Software, Energy, Manufacturing

Aster is a Venture Capital firm with offices in 4 major innovation hubs: Paris, London, Tel Aviv and San Francisco. Since 2000, they have partnered with more than 60 teams of entrepreneurs that are transforming markets with disruptive offers and technologies. They are always open to exploring new ideas related to mobility, energy and industrysectors that they have been covering until now. They invest in all stages, with a preference for the early phase.They are more than investors and they intend to act as an ally for entrepreneurs by connecting them to a valuable ecosystem of experts, influencers and business leaders. From marketing to executive talent, their commitment to the growth of their portfolio companies as well as the entire venture ecosystem also involves the commitment of their dedicated Operations team, their innovation strategy consulting firm (Aster Fab) and a crowdfunding branch to further expand opportunities (Aster Crowd).Some of their success stories include Solairedirect (acquired by Engie in 2015), Digital Lumens (acquired by Osram in 2017) and Avantium (IPOed in 2017).

## Bpifrance
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Maisons-alfort, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 5
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Software, Information Technology, Health Care

Bpifrance provides financial solutions for companies that are booting up the listing on the stock exchange and credit equity. It includes OSEO, CDC Entreprises, FSI, and FSI Regions to offer in your area of financial solutions at every stage of the life of your business.

## Listen
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Relevant deals: 4
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: E-Commerce, Software, Retail

LISTEN.co / Chicago

## KB Partners
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Highland Park, Illinois, United States
- Relevant deals: 4
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Sports, Software, Information Technology

We invest in passionate innovators at the intersection of sports and technology.

## Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
- Relevant deals: 4
- Stages: Seed, Angel
- Focus: Software, Health Care, Information Technology

Jumpstart is a private, member-lead, angel group that invests in early-stage technology companies in the Mid-Atlantic region. As the leading angel group in New Jersey, Jumpstart members include many successful entrepreneurs, business executives and venture capitalists in the region.

## GoBeyond
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Information Technology, Medical, Software

GoBeyond is a FinTech company transforming angel investing into a new scalable asset class for small and large, novice to experienced investors. It offers a unique deal platform, portfolio tools, syndication/pooling, due diligence, investment monitoring services, training and certified deal leaders.Its clients are individuals, familyoffices, professional groups and corporations. It is active in the EU, Switzerland and the US. GoBeyond also offers educational training modules for angel investors in 11 categories.

## Angels Den
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Angel
- Focus: E-Commerce, Mobile, Software

Join 21,000+ investors backing the top 4% of UK startups. Access vetted, tax-efficient (SEIS/EIS) investment opportunities and exclusive pitch events.

## Asimov Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed
- Focus: 3D Printing, Manufacturing, Robotics

Venture Capital for 3D Printing and Robotics

## LocalGlobe
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Software, Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology

Seeding ambitious founders at places like @citymapper, @improbableio,@teamkano, @moo, @songkick,@seedcamp, @transferwise and @zoopla since 1999. Who's next?

## Guild Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Miami, Florida, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: E-Commerce, Internet, Software

Founded in 2009 by Iain Shovlin, Guild typically backs founders as their first institutional investor, actively partnering with them to assist in crafting growth strategies, architecting high-performance teams, creating distinctive brands, and embracing metric-driven management. The company is headquartered in Miami Beach and invests in Chicago,Los Angeles and New York in the US, and in Mumbai and Pune in India.

## Ponooc
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: Energy, Electric Vehicle, Logistics

Ponooc is a venture capital fund based in the Netherlands with a focus on sustainable energy or mobility related ventures. We are open to both early and later stage venture deals where the invested capital is used to help the entrepreneurs and their team take the next step. We believe in a hands-on approach and work closely together with managementwhere we think we can add value, either through previous experience or our extensive network. Our geographical focus is Europe.

## 1818 Venture Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: St. Peter Port, NA - Guernsey, Guernsey
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Financial Services, FinTech, Software

1818 Venture Capital is proud to invest in portfolios of tech startups that aim to generate wealth for our investors and do good in the world.

## Bread and Butter Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
- Focus: Software, Health Care, SaaS

Bread and Butter Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Minnesota, the Bread and Butter State, investing globally while leveraging our state and region’s unparalleled access to strong corporate connections, commercial opportunities, and industry expertise for the benefit of our teams. Led by Brett Brohl and Mary Grove, we investin founders at the seed stage across foodtech, digital health and enterprise saas.

## Eagles Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Beijing, Beijing, China
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Angel, Series A, Seed
- Focus: Information Technology, Media and Entertainment, Internet

Eagles Fund is a diversified angel fund and family fund.

## Creandum
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Series B
- Focus: Software, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence

We support early-stage founders in building global, category-defining companies. From Seed to IPO and beyond.

## Investible
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Software, Information Technology, FinTech

Investible is an early-stage venture capital firm backing the visionaries advancing humanity through technology in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and globally.

## Foresight Group
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Private Equity, Seed
- Focus: Software, Manufacturing, Health Care

Foresight Group is a listed infrastructure and private equity investment manager which has been managing funds on behalf of institutions and retail clients for more than 35 years. Foresight has over £7.2 billion of assets under management across a number of funds on behalf of some of the world’s largest institutional investors, family offices,private and high net-worth individuals and retail investors. Foresight's investment strategies are underpinned by a strong environmental, social & governance (“ESG”) focus, which increasingly meets the demands of today’s investors and ensures we are consistently working towards creating a sustainable legacy for future generations.

## Seventure Partners
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Paris, Ile-de-France, France
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: Biotechnology, Software, Health Care

Seventure Partners is a French venture capital firm targeting in Tech/Digital and Life Sciences companies. It funds innovation and participates in the entrepreneurial adventure, alongside entrepreneurs and sharing their passion.Founded in 1997, Seventure Partners is one of the European leaders in venture capital, with € 1 billion undermanagement as of December 31, 2023. It is an active partner of innovative companies that, according to the management team, show strong growth potential and evolving in two fields of activity: Digital Technologies and Life Sciences. With more than 20 employees, including some 15 investors, Seventure Partners has a proven track record and in-depth expertise in technology, entrepreneurship, and various private equity operations.Seventure's goal is to identify and support the development of tomorrow's European leaders in order to accelerate their growth. To do this, the firm provides entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks, and know-how of its internal team of investors.The different funds/verticals on which Seventure Partners are focusing on today:
- Life Sciences : Biotech, Healthcare, Nutrition
- Tech/Digital : B2B SaaS, Fintech, Retailtech, Cybersecurity
- Sports & Wellbeing
- Blue Economy

## SANG SANG ebiz
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Doksansadong, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, South Korea
- Relevant deals: 3
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Artificial Intelligence, Apps, Software

SANG SANG ebiz offers software education and MySQL DBMS consulting services.

## John Elstrott
- Type: Angel
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Apps, Sports, Consumer

John Elstrott is the Mentor, The LePage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation In-Residence Program Mentor at Tulane University School of Medicine. He attended the University of Colorado Boulder.

## Aura Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: SaaS, Financial Services, Software

Aura Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm backing the creators of category defining technology companies

## Frank Bober
- Type: Angel
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed
- Focus: Hardware, Mobile Apps, Sporting Goods

Frank Bober founded Stylesight in 2003 in response to the growing industry demand for a faster and more effective Web-based approach to the process of product inspiration and development.Stylesight is the continuation of a career that spans every aspect of the fashion industry including design, manufacturing, trend forecasting, productdevelopment and merchandising.Frank’s career began in the 1960s as a menswear designer with an eponymous collection. He later held senior executive positions at Arthur Richards and Polo Ralph Lauren before founding CMT Enterprises in 1979. At CMT, he pioneered the private label concept by both designing and producing private label men’s and women’s apparel for many of America’s top retailers. He sold CMT Enterprises in 2000 after 21 successful years.

## Eclipse
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Palo Alto, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series B, Seed
- Focus: Software, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence

Palo Alto based Eclipse Ventures partners with entrepreneurs boldly transforming the essential industries that define and propel economies. Learn more.

## Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund
- Type: VC Fund
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Debt Financing
- Focus: Retail, Computer, Consumer

CIOSIF is a key part of the government’s vision aimed at boosting the region’s economy

## Gopher Angels
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Biotechnology, Software, Health Care

We are the most active Minnesota investor network, supporting the Midwest startup community through angel investment, a shared knowledge bank.

## Octopus Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: London, England, United Kingdom
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Series B
- Focus: Software, Health Care, Information Technology

We provide venture capital investment for the people, ideas and industries that will change the world. Learn about what we do and the kind of founders we back.

## Mark Pincus
- Type: Angel
- Location: San Francisco, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Internet, FinTech, Software

Mark Pincus is based out of San Francisco, California and is the Founder of Playful.AI. Mark previously worked at Tribe.net as a CEO and Co-Founder. Mark Pincus attended 
Harvard Business School.

## CASSIUS
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Gaming, E-Commerce, Apps

We are early-stage technology investors across North America and Europe.

## Giovanni Gardelli
- Type: Angel
- Location: San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Angel
- Focus: E-Commerce, Fashion, Software

Giovanni Gardelli is the Senior Director at Verizon Media.

## Keiretsu Forum
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: San Francisco, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Health Care, Software, Biotechnology

Keiretsu Forum is a global angel investor network with more than 2,500 accredited investor members throughout 47 chapters on 3 continents.

## David Blitzer
- Type: Angel
- Location: Scotch Plains, New Jersey, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A
- Focus: Sports, Fantasy Sports, Sporting Goods

David Blitzer joined HBSE Ventures as Founder.

## Seed Round Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Pre-Seed, Series A
- Focus: Software, Artificial Intelligence, Health Care

An early-stage venture capital investment and advisory firm investing in pre-seed and seed-stage startups. Based in Houston, Texas.

## Gary Vaynerchuk
- Type: Angel
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Angel
- Focus: Software, Mobile, Internet

Gary Vaynerchuk is the Chairman of VaynerX. He previously worked at Resy as a Co-Founder. Gary Vaynerchuk attended Mount Ida College.

## Sharp Alpha
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Gaming, Sports, Fantasy Sports

Sharp Alpha Advisors is a venture capital firm specializing in sports betting and online gaming

## Real Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Montréal, Quebec, Canada
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B
- Focus: Software, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

Real Ventures is an early-stage venture firm focused on serving daring entrepreneurs with the ambition to create successful, global companies. Since 2007, Real Ventures has dedicated itself to building the Canadian startup ecosystem on the belief that people, not money, build game-changing companies. Real Ventures provides stage-specific guidance,mentorship, and access to networks and resources to fast-track founders’ personal and company growth. Real Ventures manages $325 million across five funds and its active portfolio of 100+ companies is currently valued at $10 billion. www.realventures.com

## RiverPark Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B
- Focus: Software, E-Commerce, SaaS

RiverPark Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund, founded by entrepreneurs to invest in entrepreneurs. RiverPark Ventures is part of the RiverPark family of funds, a multi-strategy portfolio management firm. RiverPark Funds collectively manage over $3 billion in assets.

## GAN Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Denver, Colorado, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Angel
- Focus: Software, Information Technology, Health Care

GAN Ventures is the investment arm of the Global Accelerator Network

## Global Founders Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Financial Services, Software, FinTech

Over the past two decades, GFC have backed over five hundred entrepreneurs worldwide, e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, and Away Travel.

## David J. Adelman
- Type: Angel
- Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed
- Focus: Food and Beverage, E-Commerce, Sports

As the CEO of Campus Apartments, David Adelman leverages more than three decades of experience in real estate investing and development to oversee a portfolio of student housing properties at 80 schools in 23 states. He was mentored from an early age by the founder of Campus Apartments and has played a major role in the company’s growth sincetaking over as CEO. Specifically, David Adelman fostered a relationship with sovereign wealth fund GIC Real Estate of Singapore to invest in the company in 2006.  Mr. Adelman is also the founder of Darco Capital and co-founder and vice chair of FS Investments. Through Darco, he has invested in dozens of venture capital and private equity businesses, including digital healthcare company Virta, tequila brand Lobos 1707, Fleetzero electric ships, Prolific Machines cultured meat, Crystal Palace football club, and athletic apparel maker Fanatics. FS Investments is a prominent manager of alternative investment funds with more than $38 billion in assets under management. A basketball fan, David Adelman leveraged his success in real estate and business investing in October 2022 to purchase a $250 million equity stake in Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, the firm that owns the Philadelphia 76ers NBA franchise. Mr. Adelman is also the chairman of 76 Devcorp, through which he is leading efforts to build a new sports and entertainment venue for the team and revitalize the Fashion District mall at Tenth and Market Streets in Center City. David Adelman is a former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the real estate category for Greater Philadelphia. He currently belongs to the Young Presidents' Organization and Real Estate Roundtable and serves on the University City District Board of Directors and Penn Medicine Board of Trustees. In addition, he is a past chairman of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation. He holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Ohio State University. Away from work, he enjoys spending his free time with his wife and daughters.

## TGFS - Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Software, Information Technology, Health Care

TGFS - Technologiegruenderfonds Sachsen is an early stage VC fund targeting high tech startups with strong growth potential. The fund invests into ventures located in Saxony/Germany, Europe's leading semiconductor cluster. The team has invested into more than 120 companies so far, including more than 40 investments from the currentfund.

## Verance Capital
- Type: VC Fund
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series B
- Focus: Sports, Media and Entertainment, Sporting Goods

Verance Capital partners with leading entrepreneurs and management teams, providing early and growth stage capital across sports, media and live entertainment.

## Roger Ehrenberg
- Type: Angel
- Location: New York, New York, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Seed, Series B
- Focus: Advertising, FinTech, Software

Roger Ehrenberg is the founder and Managing Partner of IA Ventures, a firm that invests in companies creating competitive advantage through data.

## Autotech Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Menlo Park, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Series A, Series B, Seed
- Focus: Transportation, Software, Automotive

Autotech Ventures is a venture capital firm that manages more than $400 million to invest in start-ups that aim to generate financial returns in the vast $3 trillion ground transportation industry. Connected, autonomous, shared and electrified vehicles and related mobility services have created tectonic shifts in the incumbent ground transportationindustry. Vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers, dealerships, repair shops, parking operators, ground logistics firms, and road infrastructure providers are all being impacted by ground transportation startups.Autotech Ventures provides startup companies with 1) capital to execute on their business plan, 2) access to its industry contacts - including dozens of ground transportation corporate investors who together represent a global market capitalization of over $500 billion dollars, 3) up-to-the-minute market intelligence on the ground transport landscape, 4) support in recruiting ground transportation industry talent, and 5) fundraising support to raise additional capital from other financially-motivated investors and strategic investors.Start-ups typically innovate quickly then scale slowly, while corporations typically innovate slowly then scale quickly. Autotech Ventures brings startups and corporations together to bridge this gap and build a new transportation future.

## Eleven Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Sofia, Grad Sofiya, Bulgaria
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Convertible Note, Pre-Seed
- Focus: Software, SaaS, Information Technology

We empower local heroes to build global success. Eleven is an early-stage VC investing in technology companies in Southeast Europe.

## VA Angels
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Debt Financing
- Focus: Health Care, Software, Information Technology

VA Angels, one of Canada’s leading angel investment groups, has member locations in Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna and Winnipeg. Since 2003 they have done 57 deals worth $28.5 million and are one of the most active angel groups in Canada.

## Break Trail Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Boulder, Colorado, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Fashion, Health Care, SaaS

Break Trail Ventures is an early stage venture fund based in Columbus, OH and Boulder, CO.

## Blake Griffin
- Type: Angel
- Location: Los Angeles, California, United States
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Retail, Sports, Consumer Goods

Blake Griffin, the six-time All-Star, former Rookie of the Year and Slam Dunk Champion, is regarded as one of the most influential players in recent history. Second only to his basketball talent is his innate knack for comedic timing, which has been showcased in numerous national ad campaigns, top-tier media, and through his annual charity comedyshow, Comedy.by blake. Behind the camera, Blake serves as the Cofounder of Mortal Media, his Hollywood production company, which works on projects in the film, TV, and digital spaces. A true triple-threat, adding to athlete and actor, Blake and his brother Taylor also run the Team Griffin Foundation, their non-profit organization that provides young men and women with opportunities to learn the essential lessons of life, competition, and hard work by inspiring them to nurture their passions in athletics, academics and the arts.

## Lotte Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, South Korea
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Information Technology, Software, Manufacturing

Lotte Ventures is a venture capital firm that is based in South Korea.

## Superbet Ventures
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Bucharest, Bucuresti, Romania
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed
- Focus: Fitness, Wellness, Health Care

Superbet Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Superbet.

## Enterprise Ireland
- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Relevant deals: 2
- Stages: Seed, Series A
- Focus: Software, Information Technology, Health Care

Enterprise Ireland is the government agency responsible for the development and funding of the indigenous business sector. Their mission is to accelerate the development of companies to achieve strong positions in global markets resulting in increased national and regional prosperity. 

It was founded in 1998 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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