Atlanta Hawk starts a $50 million venture capital firm

Atlanta Hawks Ventures is a new firm investing in minority and women-owned startups

Atlanta, Georgia – The National Basketball Association normally acts as a group of team owners representing their resident communities in basketball. That’s it, basically just six months of 82 games of teams playing each other to be recognized as the country’s best.

Though there is a lot of community involvement with these teams interacting with residents, schools, hospitals, and more. The Atlanta Hawks want to fly to higher ground and do more than just be a representation of pro basketball.

But as Hawks CEO, Steve Koonin, said in a conversation with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Sports is this giant megaphone. A lot of opportunities come to us that you want to look at and want to invest in.”

On the Hawks Venture website, the venture capitalist firm is described as, “A mission-driven venture capital investment fund, focused on expanding upon the Atlanta Hawks core values of innovation and inclusivity. We focus on investing in early-stage startups, led by minority and underrepresented founders, that seek to impact the ways consumers experience a product or service. We look to invest in companies with high-growth potential that have big ideas, clear vision, and a plan for execution.”

In 2021, within the state of Georgia, venture capitalists invested $4.0B, but in 2022, investment decreased by 43% to $2.3B. Crunchbase has reported that companies with at least one Black founder have only received 1.2% of the venture capital funding throughout the country.

For more information visit Hawks Ventures.