Practically seven years after saying its first fund, Sapphire Sport — the enterprise fund centered on sports activities, media, and leisure — is spinning out from Sapphire Ventures. The fund will rebrand as an unbiased enterprise agency, 359 Capital.
The agency’s new identify is a tribute to the sub-four-minute mile, a feat as soon as deemed humanly inconceivable however in the end achieved by way of rigorous dedication and perseverance. 359 Capital co-founder and managing accomplice Michael Spirito stated that the identify displays the agency’s core precept of serving to its portfolio founders obtain the inconceivable.
The separation from Sapphire Ventures, an funding agency with about $11 billion in belongings underneath administration, was all the time on “the imaginative and prescient board,” stated Spirito. “We’re all grown up and able to depart dwelling.”
Sapphire Sport, which is at present midway by way of investing its second fund of $181 million, has all the time maintained a separate group of restricted companions from Sapphire Ventures. Its LPs are all deeply tied to the sports activities business, together with main names like Metropolis Soccer Group, adidas, AEG, Madison Sq. Backyard, Sinclair, and dozens of workforce homeowners.
“Once we began in 2019, the identify Sapphire Sport wasn’t simply alliterative and sounded cool,” Spirito stated. “Sport captured the LP group.”
Seven years later, the sports-focused LPs nonetheless leverage their relationship with the agency to realize insights into rising tech corporations throughout the media and sports activities panorama, Spirito stated.
A few of the startups 359 Capital has backed embrace Beehiiv, a creator-focused e-newsletter; a web-based on line casino, Betty Labs; a sports activities media platform; Extra time, an AI search engine; Perplexity, a profitable AI browser; and Tonal, a house fitness center system.
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The agency’s complete portfolio of 30 corporations and all of its funding workers will transfer over to 359 Capital. The transitioning workers consists of Spirito, co-founders of Sapphire Ventures David Hartwig and Doug Higgins, and newly promoted accomplice Rico Mallozzi.
As 359 Capital, the agency will proceed to focus totally on Sequence A and Sequence B startups, writing checks between $2 million to $10 million. The agency will proceed to take a position from its second fund by way of the primary half of 2027, Spirito stated.
359 Capital may have high-profile competitors on the earth of sports-focused enterprise capital. Courtside Ventures, backed by Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan, is within the strategy of elevating a fourth fund of $100 million, in response to an SEC filing.
