Kobe Bryant Launches $100 Million Venture Capital Fund For Tech, Media And Data Startups

Kobe Bryant is not just passionate about basketball, but also in media and technology. He recently announced that he was starting a $100 million media, technology, and data fund. He remarked, “This is one of my passions. We are one gear, 100 percent laser-focused, and here we go.”

Bryant is partnering with Jeff Stibel, the vice chairman of Dun & Bradstreet, chairman of brain implant system BrainGate and former president of Web.com. He has been privately investing with Stibel for several years. The two met through a mutual friend.

bryant with obama

Bryant and Stibel have invested in fifteen companies since 2013. These companies include The Players' Tribune, Scopely, LegalZoom, Represent, Alibaba and VIPKid, a company that provides a North American school experience to children in China.

Billionaire investor Chris Sacca has noted that Kobe Bryant is obsessed with becoming a successful investor. He stated, “He was bringing the same obsessive work ethic to learning about start-ups that he does to training... This is a very unique personality type that I only see in some of our very best entrepreneurs.” Bryan is apparently also known for being a perfectionist.

Many other plays have started their own tech business ventures. New York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony started a M7 Tech fund in 2014. He has invested in twenty companies including Lyft, SeatGeek, and Whistle.