In a moment when women’s sports are breaking into the mainstream like never before, few leaders have had a bigger impact than VC Kara Nortman. What started as an early, conviction-based investment has evolved into a movement — reshaping how capital, culture, and community converge inside the women’s sports economy.

Angel City FC: When Culture Becomes a Competitive Edge

Angel City FC didn’t finish near the top of the NWSL standings this season — 11th out of 13, a tough result for a club with sky-high expectations.
But the on-field record is only a fraction of the story.

Since launching in 2020, the Los Angeles club co-founded by Nortman has become the blueprint for how to build a modern women’s sports franchise. Powered by a star-studded ownership group: Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, and a roster of cultural heavyweights. Angel City flipped the old model on its head.

Before the first match was even played, the club broke sponsorship records, activated partnerships in ways traditionally ignored by men’s sports, and created a fan experience built for the next generation of sports consumers.

“We went from nothing to $30 million in revenue. We sold out matches. We proved what many thought was impossible,” Nortman said recently. That momentum became the foundation for Monarch Collective, Nortman’s investment platform for women’s sports.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: Women’s Sports Are Scaling — Fast

Nortman has been vocal about the massive global gap between men’s and women’s sports — but even she didn’t expect the acceleration to be this fast.

“Men’s sports drive about $500 billion globally,” she notes. “When we launched Monarch in 2023, women’s sports were valued around $500 million. Today, it’s close to $3 billion.”

That’s exponential growth. And it’s changing what investors look for.

Nortman’s thesis is simple: you can’t copy-paste the men’s sports model.
Women’s sports fans behave differently. Brands activate differently.
And the industry is young enough to experiment.

“How many men’s teams are dropping Sephora boxes from the rafters or running Fenty lipstick cams?” she jokes. “Angel City did and it worked.”

The creativity paid off. Last fall, Bob Iger and Willow Bay acquired a majority stake in Angel City for $250M, making it the most valuable women’s sports franchise on the planet.

Monarch Collective: Investing in Sports With No ‘Product-Market Risk’

Nortman left a traditional VC role at Upfront Ventures to lean fully into women’s sports. Monarch is the result — a fund built to invest in teams and leagues where the demand already exists.

The strategy is a hybrid:

venture-style innovation,
private equity–style operational support.

Monarch doesn’t spread bets across 200 startups.
It goes deep with a select group of franchises, working alongside majority owners to build systems, talent pipelines, governance structures, and long-term financial sustainability.

The question they always ask:

Is this a sport people already watch, and can we elevate it with investment, distribution, and modern operations?

That lens avoids hype cycles and keeps focus on assets with real cultural footholds.

A New Class of Investors Is Getting In

Monarch’s LP group reads like a who’s who of tech, philanthropy, and entertainment including Melinda French Gates and former Netflix executives. Their initial fund closed at $250M, more than double the original target.

Some teams win championships. Others win revenue. Nortman’s perspective: the ecosystem thrives when enough teams have the capital and support to be sustainably competitive.

Angel City set the model and now clubs in Kansas City, San Francisco (Bay FC), and Washington D.C. are following the same roadmap.

Sustaining the Momentum: What Comes Next for Women’s Sports

Nortman is bullish, but she’s realistic.

Women’s sports has had big moments before like the 1920 women’s soccer match in Liverpool that drew 60,000 fans before the sport was banned by the English FA.
The lesson: growth without infrastructure can vanish overnight.

So there are four pillars she believes must be built now:

Strong league-wide governance
Committed ownership groups
Investment in operations + infrastructure
Authentic community connection

Breakout superstars open doors.
Operational excellence keeps them open.

The Bottom Line

Women’s sports aren’t a niche. They’re one of the fastest-growing sports verticals on the planet — backed by data, fan behavior shifts, and a brand ecosystem hungry for new audiences.

Kara Nortman and Monarch Collective aren’t just investing in teams.
They’re reshaping the business model of sports itself.