Golden States Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala invested in multigame esports organization Swift, the parent company of Team SoloMid and its affiliated businesses, the organization and players announced on Tuesday.
Curry and Iguodala are part of a greater $37 million investment round that was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, a San Francisco and Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that contributed $25 million itself to the round. Bessemer recruited both Curry and Iguodala, as well as a number of other investors such as Indiana Pacers ownership heir Steve Simon, NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young and a slew of other tech and sports companies and executives.
With the investment, Curry and Iguodala become the third and fourth current Warriors players to invest in the esports space. In September 2016, forward Jonas Jerebko led a group that acquired Renegades, an esports organization that it subsequently relocated to Detroit; Jerebko moved to the Warriors in July after being waived by the Utah Jazz. Additionally, 2018 NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant is a minority owner in Vision Venture Partners, the parent of Rick Fox backed esports team Echo Fox. The only other active NBA player outside of the Warriors to invest in esports is the Thunder’s Paul George, who is an owner of Endemic Esports.
Bryant told ESPN that Curry’s investment was partly motivated by the increasing participation of NBA ownership groups and the league itself in the rapidly growing industry.
