Former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and Walmart Inc. e-commerce veteran Marc Lore are forming a venture capital firm, broadening their partnership as the duo pursues a separate deal to acquire a professional basketball team.
The new company, which will be called Vision/Capital/People, or VCP, launches with $50 million of the pair’s own money and could eventually raise $300 million to $500 million. Rodriguez and Lore plan to take early-stage stakes of 40% to 80% in their portfolio companies, much larger than the typical venture approach, a model that Lore said he found “frustrating” when he sought capital for his previous startups.
“If you have a big idea, you don’t want to start with a couple hundred grand,” Lore said in an interview. “Instead, we put up significant seed capital, hire a world-class executive team and help the founder craft a vision.”
Source: Bloomberg