The venture capital playbook is getting an NIL-era rewrite, and college athletes are getting in on the game.
Three current Division I quarterbacks are the latest athletes to invest in The Cashmere Fund, a Nasdaq-listed venture capital fund that allows non-accredited investors to invest in VC-backed start-ups. The players are LaNorris Sellers from the University of South Carolina, Kevin Jennings of Southern Methodist University, and Avery Johnson of Kansas State University.
All are considered strong candidates to be drafted next year, led by Sellers, 20, who is projected as a top-five draft pick. Jennings, 21, is projected to go in the sixth round next year, and Johnson, 20, is projected to be drafted in the seventh round.
“There was some business savvy in all of them,” Elia Infascelli, CEO of Cashmere, tells Front Office Sports. “Avery Johnson is a business major, for example. They didn’t need to do this, but they wanted to.”
The unveiling of Sellers, Jennings, and Johnson marks the continuation of a hot streak for Cashmere, which also recently announced as investors the reigning NFL MVP, Josh Allen, and his teammate, Bills safety Damar Hamlin. The specific amounts the college quarterbacks (as well as Allen and Hamlin) are contributing to the fund were not disclosed.
“They are investors in the fund just like any other person would invest in the fund,” Infascelli tells FOS.
The agreement with the three college players is not your average name, image, and likeness deal, but Infascelli says that five years ago—before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in NCAA v. Alston in 2021 that allowed players to capitalize on NIL—this sort of arrangement wouldn’t have been allowed.
The way the deals work with athletes is mutually beneficial to them and the fund, Infascelli says. The athletes help Cashmere gain new eyeballs, while Cashmere gives them real-world experience as VC investors.
The fund is open to the public. Anyone can invest, with a minimum investment of $500, and there are quarterly disclosure filings to keep investors up to date on performance. As of the end of March, the fund had about $16 million in assets under management, according to its latest disclosure.
It’s an evergreen fund, which means it has no defined lifespan and can continue to raise capital on an open-ended basis. It invests across a range of sectors, with the highest percentage being in the consumer goods space. Almost 24% of its funds are invested across companies in that area—Graza Olive Oil and clothing company Feat Socks are two examples. The fund has also invested in artificial intelligence, consumer technology, and health care, among other areas. There are two annual redemption windows during which investors can cash out if they want.
Launched in 2022, Cashmere has lofty goals. It eventually hopes to draw 100,000 individual investors. Today, it has around 5,000. Additional athlete and celebrity investors could join the fold in the future, although there is no one else specific on the horizon.
Infascelli is excited about the fund’s future, especially with the addition of Sellers, Jennings, and Johnson.
“At 18, 19, or 21, to think about long-term relationships and invest without any immediate upside today, that’s rare,” he says.
