SportsTech Investment Recap – May 2nd

Qatari group offer $6.3B for Manchester United

Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani submitted a final bid of around £5 billion ($6.3 billion) for the club. That offer includes additional amounts for facilities and other investments, one of the people said.

NFT soccer video game – Goals – raises US$20m

Swedish startup Goals has raised US$20 million in series A funding to continue development of a non-fungible token (NFT) based soccer video game that can be a genuine alternative to traditional simulations of the sport such as EA Sports FC. The round was led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six venture capital firm.

NFL star – JJ Watt – invests in England’s Burnley FC

Recently retired NFL star JJ Watt and wife Kealia Watt (former US international) have announced an investment in Burnley FC for an undisclosed fee that sees them join the likes of numerous athlete minnority owners in the EPL.

Yahoo acquires sports betting platform Wagr

Yahoo has finalized the acquisition of sports betting platform Wagr. It was the first betting operator in the North American market to obtain a license in the country and raised US$ 16 million, with investors that include the ownership groups of the New England Patriots (NFL) and the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA).

Ashton Kutcher launches $240M AI investment fund

Sound Ventures, the venture-capital firm co-founded by Ashton Kutcher and music manager Guy Oseary, is looking to back “category-defining” artificial intelligence businesses. The VC firm announced that it has closed Sound Ventures AI Fund, oversubscribed at nearly $240 million. The fund seeks to invest in AI businesses at the foundation model layer. Currently, the fund’s portfolio of companies includes OpenAI, Anthropic and StabilityAI. Kutcher, Oseary and Effie Epstein lead Sound Ventures as general partners.