Former NFL Players with VC Funds

Playing in the NFL can open doors in business. For some, this means opportunities in venture capital.

Here’s a few former NFL players that have jumped into the VC world since playing on the gridiron:

Isaiah Kacyvenski - Will Ventures

Isaiah Kacyvenski had a tough upbringing. At times during his childhood, he was homeless sleeping in tents in Upstate New York. His mom also passed away during his senior year of high school. Despite these setbacks, Kacyvenski worked hard and landed a scholarship playing football at Harvard. He played in the NFL for 8 years, mainly as a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks.

In 2019, Kacyvenski launched Will Ventures with Brian Reilly (a former Harvard football player). Ben Gardner, a three-year NFL veteran, joined the team in 2022 and is currently a partner and the head of portfolio success.

Will Ventures is an early-stage VC firm based out of Boston, MA. They don’t consider themselves a “sports tech fund", but also invest in industries such as consumer, health, media, and gaming. They take a high-conviction and low volume approach for seed-stage companies. For fund II, Will Ventures raised $150 million. Some investments include Just Womens’ Sports, Future, Ness, Athletes.org, and Jump.

Ryan Nece - Next Legacy

Ryan Nece played seven years in the NFL, mainly as linebacker (and special teams) for the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A few years before hanging up the cleats, Nece created his own foundation to help teens embrace the power of giving.

In 2015, Ryan Nece lauched Next Play Capital - an investment platform that focused on investing in top venture funds and venture backed companies. For fund III, Nece raised $200 million. Last year, Next Play Capital and Legacy Venture merged into one firm, Next Legacy. One of their main goals is to give athletes, philanthropists, and changemakers a seat at the table. They’ve been able to help 2,000+ current and former professional athletes get involved.

Carta, FanDuel, Flexport, ServiceTitan, and Affinity are some companies they have invested in over the years.

Joe Montana - Liquid 2 Ventures

Joe Montana is considered one of the greatest QBs to play in the NFL. He started angel investing under the direction of Ron Conway, an extremely successful venture capitalist and philanthropist. In 2015, Joe founded Liquid 2 Ventures, a VC firm focused on investing in pre-seed and seed stage technology startups. Joe is the managing director, while his son Nate Montana, Michael Ma, Michael Miller, and Nate Pulvey are partners (Ron Conway is also an advisor).

Liquid 2 Ventures is based out of San Francisco with a portfolio of companies such as Gitlab, Retool, Rippling, and Mercury. They closed fund III with $80 million in 2022.