Hollywood Angels: These are celebrities who are also superstar venture capitalists
Becoming a venture capitalist has become Hollywood’s latest status symbol.
Everyone these days, from Olivia Wilde to Emma Watson, is either launching a venture firm or backing the next hottest company. Robinhood, Uber, and Klarna all have some catchy names on their tables, paving the way for the emergence of “Hollywood angels.”
For founders, having celebrities at the cap table can bring a lot of buzz to a startup — and bonus points if the celebrity knows what they’re doing, too. Here are some of the top celebrities who invest and what they usually look to invest in. (This list will be updated periodically).
Snoop Dogg
The rapper and celebrity is a prolific angel investor and is also the founder of Casa Verde Capital, a firm focused on cannabis investments. As an angel investor, according to PitchBook, he has backed companies like Cameo, Reddit, Klarna, Robinhood, and Fintech MoonPay, along with other celebrities on this list. He has made at least 26 investments, according to PitchBook. Managing Partner of Casa Verde Capital is Karan Wadhera and the company Closed $94 million The second fund in 2020.
Sarah and Erin Foster
The Foster sisters are two of the most famous siblings in Hollywood, best known these days as the producers of Kristen Bell’s Netflix show “Nobody Wants This.” They launched an investment company in 2022 It seeks to raise $20 million To support consumer companies, the fund has been officially closed, their representatives confirmed to us. They know the consumer space well: they already have a podcast, a clothing line, and a successful TV show.
PitchBook shows that the company, which they run alongside their business partner Phil Schwarz, has written at least six checks, including at companies like diaper brand Kudos (along with Gwyneth Paltrow) and the company PitchBook. Premium bottled wine company Joliet.
As angel investors, the sisters also invested in alkaline water company ZenWTR. Sarah is also an angel investor in swimwear company Summersalt and ear piercing startup Rowan.
Kevin Hart
A few years ago, comedian Kevin Hart launched a venture firm, HartBeat Ventures, along with Robert Roman, an investor with a background in financial management of entertainment and sports celebrities.
The company was founded around 2021 with the aim of Support minority and underrepresented founders. It received its first external investment from JP Morgan as part of one of the bank’s initiatives to… Financing more Companies led by women and people of color.
The company has invested in at least 14 companies, according to PitchBook, including art marketplace Masterworks, 3D printing company Ready Player Me, and Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie line. Tashi Nakanishi and Walid Samaha are partners in the company, according to LinkedIn, while Ron Everline serves as vice president.
HartBeat Ventures started raising its first fund in 2022 without a target amount. As of January 2024, it has raised at least $28 million, according to one report SEC filing from January. The October SEC filing also shows that HartBeat is trying to raise capital for it What appears to be SPV It is looking to invest in Aston Martin’s Formula 1 racing team.
Paris Hilton
The famous socialite is also an angel investor, according to PitchBook. She has made investments through her company 11:11 Media, of which she serves as CEO and co-founder. Its investments included Crypto company MoonPayThe biotech company Colossal Biosciences, the community events platform AfterParty, and the podcast platform Fireside Chats.
The topic for her seems to be social platforms, biotechnology, and SaaS products that make consumer lives easier. She has made at least 22 investments, according to PitchBook, and happens to be married to Carter Reum, founder of the popular Los Angeles firm M13 Ventures, which has invested in companies like ClassPass, Canvas, and Pinterest, according to her website.
Ashton Kutcher
Perhaps one of the most famous and prominent Celebrity VCs is Ashton Kutcher. He is the co-founder of two venture capital firms, A-Grade and Sound Ventures, both of which he started with Guy Oseary. Shortly after Sound’s launch, Effie Epstein joined as managing partner.
Sound Ventures, founded in 2015, looks to back software companies and has more than $1 billion in assets under management, according to PitchBook. It also invests from thematic funds, and last year launched an AI Growth Thematic Fund, which invested in companies such as Hugging Face, OpenAI, Anthropic, and World Labs. He told the audience at TechCrunch’s 2024 Disrupt as much It supports competitors in artificial intelligence Because he believes there is room for many huge AI modeling companies. His other notable investments between A-Grade and Sound include Affirm, Airbnb, Airtable, Duolingo, and Uber.
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Famous rapper Nas founded his company QueensBridge Venture Partners in 2014. It has made more than 130 investments across various industries and has assets under management of about $140 million, according to PitchBook. Anand Murthy is a partner in the company. The company has invested in companies such as luggage brand Away (along with Jay-Z) and Canopy Bedding Companyaccording to PitchBook.
As an angel investor, Nas has made more than 50 investments, according to PitchBook. He has backed SeatGeek, Robinhood, Ring, Coinbase, and Fintech Mercury.
Gwyneth Paltrow
The Goop founder has made at least 24 investments as an angel investor, according to PitchBook. She is also, along with Moj Mahdara, the co-founder of Kinship Ventures, which invests in consumer and wellness companies. Company He was looking to raise a $75 million venture capital fundAs Axios reported last year, it has supported cryptocurrencies Payment company MoonPay. According to other filings with the SEC, Kinship Ventures also appears to have filed what appears to be a special purpose vehicle To support OpenAI and Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf.
As an angel investor, Paltrow has invested in Majd Diaper CompanyHair company Crown Affair, beauty e-commerce marketplace Thirteen Lune, and beverage brand Olipop, along with actress Priyanka Chopra, according to PitchBook. Actress Mindy Kaling, rapper Logic, and the Jonas Brothers, She also supported Olipop.
Emma Watson
The actress cut at least two checks from angel investors, according to PitchBook. The investments include at least two companies, including: Biomanufacturing company FabricNanoand Fertility health. Watson is a well-respected activist, especially when it comes to the environment and women’s rights. It’s no wonder, then, that its angel investments are in companies seeking to make product manufacturing more sustainable and a platform for women’s health.
Olivia Wilde
Actress and director Olivia Wilde has teamed up with Neil Cerny, who led Roc Nation’s venture division, Arrive, to launch Proximity, Bloomberg’s venture firm. Reported in October. Wilde doesn’t have a PitchBook profile yet, but Bloomberg reports that her new company will focus on consumer and enterprise technology and has already cut some checks, including Pendulum Therapeutics.
Investor Jason Mack and artist Santigold, known for her song “LES Artistes,” are also partners in the company, according to Bloomberg. SEC filings show Proximity is raising two new SPV funds, including a A $5 million health fund and Another $10 million fund.
Jay Z
The music mogul is an angel investor and co-founder of RocNation and what is now known as MarcyPen Capital Partners, a venture firm emerging from the merger of Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners with Pendulum Holding’s investment arm Pendulum Opportunities.
Rock nation It has a project arm called Accessibility Managementwhich was previously run by Neil Cerny, an investor who now works with Olivia Wilde at Proximity. This investment arm has made at least 40 investments, according to PitchBook, backing companies like Sweetgreen and Epic Games.
Before the merger, Marcy Venture Partners had invested in several companies, such as Rihanna’s Fenty x Savage company (making Rihanna one of the few black women in the world to have a unicorn company) and web3 spatial laboratories company. Charlie Hanna and Mason O’Hanlon are listed as investors in MarcyPen Capital Partners on PitchBook and LinkedIn.
Furthermore, as an angel investor, Jay-Z has made some high-profile investments — at least 27, according to PitchBook — in companies like Oatly, Flowhub, Impossible Foods, and luggage company Away.
