Serena Williams is channeling her competitive edge into the boardroom, sharpening her investment strategy as startup founders become “more choosy.”
Since launching Serena Ventures, the tennis legend has grown the firm into a $111 million fund with stakes in 16 unicorns, startups valued at over $1 billion. Yet despite her name and reputation, Williams still faces challenges securing investments in today’s highly competitive market.
“Founders are getting more choosy,” Williams told Business Insider.
The rapidly shifting tech industry is reshaping venture capital as top investors pull back, firms raise smaller funds more slowly, and AI startups attract the bulk of new investments. For everyone else, funding is harder to come by, pushing founders to weigh whether investors offer more than just capital.
“Founders are really evaluating who they want to partner with,” said Beth Ferreira, a Serena Ventures general partner. “If they don’t believe that our network and the ideas we have about their company can change outcomes, we’re not going to get into the deal.”
“I think most of the time, those founders are realizing that this is different and could very much complement the rest of their investment base,” she added.
Amid the industry’s shift, Williams noted that her firm is investing as much as it did three or four years ago, reflecting the more cautious market of today. New Serena Ventures acquisitions now demand a closer look at whether founders are truly solving the problems they set out to address, a change Williams views as a healthy shift that pushes both investors and entrepreneurs to be more strategic about where capital flows.
“Not all money is good money,” Williams said.
With investments spanning cosmetics, media, and even professional sports teams, Williams emphasized that she’s a partner at her namesake firm, not the sole captain steering the ship.
“I remain a partner at Serena Ventures, not in an operational role,” Williams tweeted in response to an “inaccurate” news story about her role at the firm.
“To say that Serena Williams, a person, and Serena Ventures, an institution, are one and the same is inaccurate,” she added.
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