What are Serena Williams’ Top 5 Investments?
Today’s pro athletes are far more than athletes compared to past generations. They are entertainers, spokespeople, and sometimes even activists. In the case of Serena Williams, she’s also an important role model, not to mention an investor. While she has won roughly $94 million in prize money as a tennis player, Williams has a VC firm called Serena Ventures, which owns $240 million worth of business startups.
Specifically, Serena Ventures focuses on startups owned by women and Black people, which Williams believes have been undervalued and underappreciated by many Silicon Valley venture capital firms. With Williams trying to rectify that, let’s take a closer look at some of her personal investments.
Alchemy 43
One of the investments that Williams says she’s most proud of is a company called Alchemy 43, which is an aesthetics bar that focuses on micro treatments. The franchise has three locations in Southern California and one in New York City. The company is on the cutting edge of skin and beauty treatments, tailoring its services to the individual features of each customer.
Pachama
Williams was one of the first serious investors of Pachama, which is working to fight climate change. Pachama is a tech company that uses artificial intelligence, automation, and data to remove carbon and restore forests. It was founded by two Argentinians who saw firsthand the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest and believe that restoring forests can play an important role in fighting climate change. The startup has already undertaken two big projects with help from investors like Williams, including forest restoration in Alaska.
Lolli
Williams has dipped her toe into the cryptocurrency pool by investing $5 million of seed money in Lolli in March 2021. Lolli is another tech startup that believes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be an integral part of the future. Lolli describes itself as the first Bitcoin rewards application. It strives to make it easier for people to understand and own Bitcoin, doing so by connecting Bitcoin with online shopping. Lolli already has over 500 partners, and when someone with a Lolli account buys something online from one of those partners, they get a small percentage of that money back in the form of Bitcoin to help them build their cryptocurrency profile.
Kopi Kenangan
It’s a safe bet that Williams is a coffee lover because she has also invested in an Indonesian-based coffee chain called Kopi Kenangan. In 2019, Williams joined Jay-Z and NBA player Caris LeVert in backing the coffee company to help it expand beyond Jakarta and Indonesia and eventually have a presence throughout Asia and the world. We can only assume that coffee is delicious and worthy of a savvy investor like Williams.
Miami Dolphins
It should not be forgotten that Williams and sister Venus are part owners of the Miami Dolphins. Granted, they are just minority owners, but the sisters bought a stake in the franchise back in 2009, becoming the first black women to become minority owners of an NFL team. Fittingly, the sisters grew up rooting for the Dolphins after moving to South Florida when Serena was nine. They are also in great company with the Dolphins, as the likes of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Jimmy Buffet, and Jennifer Lopez have also had a minority stake in the franchise. Williams is also grooming her daughter to be an investor and minority owner of a pro sports team. Both Williams and her four-year-old daughter Olympia are part owners of Angel City, a women’s soccer team that will begin play in the NWSL in 2022.
