Kara Elyse Nortman [1] is an American venture capitalist, the founder and managing partner of Monarch Collective, and professional sports team owner who co-founded National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Angel City FC. [2]
Kara Elyse Nortman [1] is an American venture capitalist, the founder and managing partner of Monarch Collective, and professional sports team owner who co-founded National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Angel City FC. [2]
In 2014, Nortman joined Upfront Ventures, a Los Angeles, California-based venture capital firm. [3] [2] [4] Nortman's investments included Parachute Home, Writer, Laurel, Fleetsmith (acquired by Apple), Strive Talent (acquired by Franklin Covey). [4] [5] In 2020, Upfront promoted Nortman as one of three co-managing partners. In 2022, she reportedly stepped back from investing at Upfront to focus on Angel City FC. [2]
In March 2023, Nortman announced the creation of Monarch Collective, a sports venture capital fund led by herself and Jasmine Robinson with a focus on women's teams, leagues, and business opportunities. Investors in the $100 million initial raise included former tennis player Billie Jean King, Alphabet Inc. venture capital leader Laela Sturdy, and former Netflix president Cindy Holland. [6] [7]
In 2020, Nortman co-founded NWSL expansion club Angel City FC with an investment group that included Julie Uhrman, Natalie Portman, Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, Mia Hamm, Lauren Holiday, Abby Wambach Eva Longoria, Jennifer Garner, and Jessica Chastain, among others. [2] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Nortman recruited Portman after watching a United States women's national soccer team friendly match together, and recruited Uhrman from a women-in-tech basketball club to which they both belonged and that Nortman had helped to launch. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Nortman also consulted with U.S. Women's National Team Players Association executive director Becca Roux on the business potential of women's soccer. [11]
In its initial season, Angel City FC sold 16,000 season tickets, averaged more than 19,000 attendance per match, and sold $11 million in corporate partnerships and $35 million in total sponsorship revenue. Its corporate partnership revenue was larger than seven Major League Soccer teams and approached the value of teams in the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. [12] [13] Angel City FC's expansion fees were reportedly between $2 million and $5 million. [14] [15] In an April 2021 fundraise, Angel City FC was reportedly valued at more than $100 million. [16]
Nortman worked for seven years at InterActiveCorp (IAC), where she served in executive roles for mergers and acquisitions [17] [18] and oversaw the acquisitions of Urbanspoon and Dictionary.com. She later served IAC as an executive at its holdings Urbanspoon and Citysearch. [4] [19] At IAC, she also sat on the board of startup incubator Hatch Labs and recruited dating app Tinder and its founder Sean Rad. [4] [3] Following IAC, she co-founded children's creativity startup Moonfrye with Soleil Moon Frye. [20]
Prior to IAC, Nortman also worked for Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, [4] and as a venture capitalist for Battery Ventures. [4] [3]
Nortman co-founded All Raise, a gender-equality group of venture capitalists attempting to increase diversity among venture funds and entrepreneurship. [8] [10] [12]
Nortman graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor's of arts degree in politics, and from Stanford University with a master's in business administration. [4]
Nortman is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California. She attended the 1999 and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cups. [10] Her business interest in women's sports started when she tried and failed to purchase a United States jersey at the 2015 tournament. [11] Nortman married Jake Blumenthal in 2007 [1] and has three daughters. [21] [22]
The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) since 2013.
Women's soccer in the United States has developed quite differently from men's soccer. Until the 1970s, organized women's soccer matches in the U.S. existed only on a limited basis. The U.S. is now regarded as one of the top countries in the world for women's soccer, and FIFA ranked its national team #1 in the world after its back-to-back Women's World Cup victory in 2015 and 2019.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. Headquartered in New York City, it is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation.
Julie Uhrman is an American soccer executive and entrepreneur who is president of Angel City FC, a National Women's Soccer League team based in Los Angeles, California, that Uhrman also co-founded. She was previously an executive at Playboy Enterprises, Lionsgate Entertainment, IGN, and Vivendi Entertainment, and founded the former video game console company Ouya.
The expansion of the National Women's Soccer League began with the league's sophomore season in 2014, when the league expanded to a ninth team in Houston, and is an ongoing process that currently has seen five expansions, three direct or indirect relocations, and one contraction. The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) was established as the top level of professional women's soccer in the United States in 2013 in the wake of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association and Women's Professional Soccer.
Katlyn Alicia Johnson Carreón is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Angel City FC. Born in the United States, she represents the Mexico women's national team.
Soccer has enjoyed longstanding popularity in Los Angeles. As of 2023, Los Angeles County has three top-level professional teams. The LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC play in Major League Soccer, and Angel City FC plays in the National Women's Soccer League. The Greater Los Angeles area is also home to one 2nd division professional team, Orange County SC, of the USL Championship, and four 3rd division professional teams, LAFC2 and LA Galaxy II, of MLS Next Pro, and Los Angeles Force and California United Strikers FC of the National Independent Soccer Association. There are also many semi-professional clubs and leagues including the United Premier Soccer League, SoCal Premier League and National Premier Soccer League, among others. In 2019, two more professional teams, Cal FC and California United Strikers FC joined a new, unsanctioned, professional league called the NPSL Founders Cup They both later left, with Cal FC joining the United Premier Soccer League.
Upfront Ventures, formerly known as GRP Partners, is a Santa Monica-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies. It is one of the largest venture capital firms in Los Angeles, with $2 billion in total raised funds. Since its founding in 1996, Upfront Ventures has invested in more than 200 companies, with notable exits including Ulta, Overture, PayPal Credit, TrueCar, Disney Digital Network, Kyriba, and Ring.
Sixth Street is a global investment firm with over $70 billion in assets under management. The firm operates nine investment platforms across its growth investing, adjacencies, direct lending, fundamental public strategies, infrastructure, special situations, agriculture and par liquid credit businesses. Sixth Street invests in the equity and debt of public and private companies, acquires real estate, finances infrastructure projects, and provides start-up capital to new businesses. Sixth Street has been noted in the financial media for the unusual structure of its largest fund, which is open-ended and able to hold longer-term investments.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league owned by the teams, and under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation. At the top of the United States league system, it represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The NWSL was established in 2012 as a successor to Women's Professional Soccer (2007–2012), which was itself the successor to Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of Women's Professional Soccer.
Angel City Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team that began play in the 2022 season. Based in Los Angeles, California, the formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including Natalie Portman, America Ferrera, Mia Hamm, Sophia Bush, Abby Wambach, Eva Longoria, and Serena Williams.
Marla Messing is an American attorney and sports executive. She is known primarily for her work in soccer – first with the 1994 FIFA World Cup and as one of the first executives of Major League Soccer in 1995. In 1996, Messing became president and chief executive officer of the committee that organized the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup. Most recently, Messing served as the interim CEO of the National Women's Soccer League. From 2019 to 2021 she was the CEO of USTA Southern California.
Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team playing in Kansas City, Kansas. It was founded as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021.
Sean Nahas is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
Alyssa Paola Thompson is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for NWSL team Angel City FC and the United States women's national team. In 2021, she was named Gatorade Player of the Year. She signed professionally with Angel City as a senior in high school.
The 2023 Angel City FC season was the team's second season as a professional women's soccer team. Angel City FC played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.
Bay Football Club is an American professional women's soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. They are set to begin play in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) as an expansion team in the 2024 season. Their home stadium will be PayPal Park in San Jose, California, a soccer-specific stadium with 18,000 seats that is also home to the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS).
Mary Alice Vignola is an American professional women's soccer player who plays as a defender for Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
Gisele Olivia Thompson is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League. She has also previously played for the US under-20 and under-17 national teams. Thompson is one of the first high school athletes to have a name, image, and likeness deal with Nike, as is her older sister, Alyssa Thompson. After committing to play for Stanford University once she graduated high school, Thompson instead announced in December 2023 that she had signed with NWSL club Angel City FC.