As his past has proven, Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant is not only one of the best basketball players alive, but the 29-year-old has used his immense platform to branch out into different realms as well.
Durant will reportedly now also be part of a new venture-capital fund along with fellow celebrity Will Smith. The initiative is set to target primarily black investors, as they are severely under-represented as venture capitalists. Following from Wall Street Journal’s Yoree Koh:
Silicon Valley stalwart Andreessen Horowitz is launching a novel effort to boost diversity in technology: an exclusive new fund targeted at black celebrities, athletes and media figures.
Basketball star Kevin Durant, actor Will Smith and Essence magazine publisher Richelieu Dennis are among the initial limited partners in the venture-capital fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
The fund will be relatively small, totaling roughly $15 million, and will invest alongside Andreessen Horowitz’s main $1.5 billion fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
The new fund headlined by Kevin Durant will look to address and help alleviate Silicon Valley’s diversity issues, specifically in the world of venture capitalism.
About 58% of venture capitalists are white and male, according to a review of 1,500 U.S.-based venture-capital partners by Richard Kerby, a partner at New York-based Equal Ventures. About 3% of the partners are black…
Despite their celebrity status, athletes and entertainers interested in tech investing can have a hard time breaking into an industry where success depends on knowing the right people to get access to deals. Part of the purpose of the new Andreessen fund is to address this, according to one of the people familiar with the fund.
As professional athletes very well know, the game doesn’t stay around forever and they will have to find a way to manage well beyond when their playing days conclude. With his latest off-court move, Durant continues to set himself up wisely for life after basketball.
