Kara Elyse Nortman (born 1976or1977) [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 (born 1976or1977) [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]
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. [3]
In 2014, Nortman joined Upfront Ventures, a Los Angeles, California-based venture capital firm. [4] [2] [3] Nortman's investments included Parachute Home, Writer, Laurel, Fleetsmith (acquired by Apple), Strive Talent (acquired by Franklin Covey). [3] [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. [3] [19] At IAC, she also sat on the board of startup incubator Hatch Labs and recruited dating app Tinder and its founder Sean Rad. [3] [4] 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, [3] and as a venture capitalist for Battery Ventures. [3] [4]
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 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]
Alexandra Lowe Riley is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Angel City of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in the United States, she represents the New Zealand national team. She captains both her club and national teams. As a collegiate athlete, she captained the Stanford soccer team to two NCAA semi-finals and one final.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. As of 2024, the league comprises 14 teams; a 15th team is planned to join in 2026. Headquartered in New York City, it is owned by the teams and sanctioned by 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 she 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.
Raquel "Rocky" Rodríguez Cedeño is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League and the Costa Rica national team.
Paige Kathleen Nielsen is an American professional soccer defender who currently plays for Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
Katlyn Alicia Johnson Carreón is a professional footballer who most recently played as a forward for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Angel City FC. Born in the United States, she represents the Mexico 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.
Jun Endo is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Japan national team. She previously played for Nippon TV Beleza of the Japanese Nadeshiko League and won the 2019 AFC Women's Club Championship.
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 an American professional women's soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The formation of the team was announced on July 21, 2020; it began play in the 2022 season. The team plays its home games at BMO Stadium, which it shares with Los Angeles FC of Major League Soccer (MLS).
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.
Elyse Morgan Bennett is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Bennett has previously played for the OL Reign and the Kansas City Current.
Alyssa Paola Thompson is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women's national team. She was named the national Gatorade Player of the Year in 2021. She was selected first overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City while in high school.
Cleveland Pro Soccer is the ownership group co-founded by Michael Murphy and Nolan Gallagher, based in Cleveland, Ohio. The group owns an independent men's professional soccer team that plans to participate in MLS Next Pro. The group is also presenting a bid in 2024 for the 16th expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
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 that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team began play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 season. Their home stadium is 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).
Angie Knighton Long and Christopher D. Long are American businesspeople. They are co-founders and co-owners of the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).