Sports in Venture @ The Post Clubhouse | oCTOBER 23rd @ 6pm | NYC
About this event: Dealmaking, investing and entrepreneurship in the sports industry is poised for high growth – the sports technology market alone is set to a CAGR of 17.9% potentially reaching 100 billion by 2030 while sports properties are expected to attract record valuations in 2024 as private and institutional investors, like JPMC which just announced the creation of a sports-focused investing team, seek to tap into the increasingly lucrative industry.
Columbia Venture Community – NY presents a special series on Venture in Sports, led by CBS Alum & Team U.S.A Figure Skater, Chloé Katz.
In this series we will cover topics across Investing, Entrepreneurship and Technology in Sports while also shedding light onto the human journey of the elite athlete. Our guests will share their personal stories of heartache, survival, and love for their sports and share insights into the identity challenges athletes face post retirement.
Join us at the Post Clubhouse - Social Club founded by former NFL Player Christian Ponder – for a panel with Professional & Olympic athletes.
Our discussion will focus on:
Strategies for winning championships in private equity and venture capital
Methods to identify and invest in untapped potential
Winning business ideas in the sports industry
Strategies for investing in athlete-led ventures
Experiences of elite athletic training & life on the field
How hard – won lessons of sports can be channeled into building thriving enterprises
The identity challenge facing athletes post-retirement
Speaker Bios:
Sarah Parsons Wolter:
Sarah is a Principal and Head of Growth at FinTech Collective, an early-stage venture capital firm based in New York City and investing globally. Prior to joining FinTech Collective, Sarah spent ten years at Morgan Stanley, most recently in Global Capital Markets as a member of the Equity Syndicate Team, primarily focusing on TMT and international offerings. Prior to that, she worked in Sales and Trading, where she began her career as an analyst in Foreign Exchange. A former athlete and sports enthusiast, Sarah was the youngest member of the 2006 Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team that won a bronze medal in Torino, Italy, and is a 2x World Champion. She also co-authored a book on Serie A, the top Italian professional soccer league, as well as a book on the US Men’s National Soccer Team. Sarah received her MBA with highest honors from Columbia Business School and her B.A. in Economics cum laude from Dartmouth College.
Kyrha Ruff
Kyrha Ruff is the Director of Brand Operations & Programming at The Post, a private membership community connecting former collegiate, professional, and Olympic athletes turned business leaders. During her time at Amherst College, where she earned a BA in Psychology, Kyrha competed as a rower on the crew team, bringing a firsthand understanding of the collegiate sports experience to her current roles. Her background spans entertainment, venture capital, angel investor syndicates, and startups. She previously served as an Investment Associate & Community Manager at Plural VC, an angel collective where she screened and conducted research on investment opportunities in fintech, regtech, blockchain, and emerging technologies. She also worked in film & TV production and development at notable organizations such as Tribeca Film Festival, Imagine Entertainment, and Scott Rudin Productions. Kyrha holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Psychology from Amherst College where she was a member of the crew team.
Chloé Katz
Chloé Katz is Director of Partnerships at BlackRock, where she is responsible for technology partnerships. Chloé is a former competitive pair skater. With partner Joseph Lynch she is the 2008 Couple de Nice silver medalist and the 2005 U.S bronze medalist. competed as part of the U.S National Figure Skating Team from 2006 to 2011. She also earned eligibility to two Olympic Games, including an alternate position for the 2006 Olympic Team. After a career ending injury leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games, moved into a career in emerging technology within the financial services industry. Chloe specializes in business development and strategic partnerships and was part of the founding team of an Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning startup. She has also founded two organizations to provide career opportunities for underrepresented communities in the workplace, a mission that she is passionate about. Chloé is a graduate of New York University and has completed an MBA from Columbia Business School. She currently sits on the board of the NY Chapter of the Columbia Venture Community.