Kara Nortman
Who they are
Kara Nortman is Founder and Managing Partner of Monarch Collective — co-founded Angel City FC with Natalie Portman and Julie Uhrman, and built All Raise to push diversity into VC.
Person
Kara studied Politics at Princeton (BA, 1997) then worked at Morgan Stanley, Battery Ventures, and Microsoft before landing at IAC, where she ran M&A and oversaw properties like Urbanspoon and Citysearch. She got her Stanford MBA in 2004, then spent eight years at Upfront Ventures rising to Co-Managing Partner — a long, institution-building tenure at one of LA's most prominent early-stage funds. Along the way she founded or co-founded five things: Moonfrye (a children's creativity startup with Soleil Moon Frye, 2013), All Raise (a gender-equity group for VCs), Angel City FC (the NWSL club in Los Angeles, co-founded with Julie Uhrman and Natalie Portman), and Monarch Collective (her women's sports VC fund, launched 2023). The through-line is using institutional finance skills to build structures — funds, clubs, coalitions — that didn't previously exist for women in sports and tech. She writes on LinkedIn about NWSL and WNBA growth, Monarch Collective portfolio moves, and gender equity in VC — practical advocacy tied to live deals, not abstract commentary.
Company
Kara launched Monarch Collective in March 2023 with a $100 million initial raise backed by investors including Billie Jean King, Laela Sturdy, and Cindy Holland — a first-of-kind VC fund focused exclusively on women's teams, leagues, and related business opportunities. In March 2025 the fund expanded from $150 million to $250 million, with most capital coming from existing investors including Melinda French Gates' Pivotal Ventures and Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden. In November 2025, Monarch Collective made its first overseas investment — a 38% stake in German women's soccer club FC Viktoria Berlin — marking the fund's move beyond the US market.
Market
Monarch Collective operates in the fast-expanding women's sports investment space, where rising media rights deals and NWSL and WNBA audience growth are drawing institutional capital that was largely absent five years ago. The fund's international move into FC Viktoria Berlin signals that it sees European women's football as an extension of the same opportunity — undervalued clubs in leagues gaining commercial traction.
Network
Kara co-leads Monarch Collective with Jasmine Robinson. Her highest-profile co-founder relationship is with Natalie Portman on Angel City FC. The fund's LP base includes notable names — Billie Jean King, Melinda French Gates' Pivotal Ventures, and Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden — signaling a network that bridges entertainment, philanthropy, and sports business.
- Jasmine Robinson· Co-Managing Partner, Monarch Collective
- Natalie Portman· Co-founder, Angel City FC
- Sarah Harden· CEO, Hello Sunshine (LP in Monarch Collective)
How they likely show up
- Eight years at Upfront Ventures rising to Co-Managing Partner → thinks in fund cycles and long institutional relationships, not short sprints.
- Founded five companies/organizations alongside employed roles → high agency; she builds new structures when she spots a gap rather than waiting for permission.
- Hybrid role pattern (operator + investor across career) → comfortable context-switching between deal work and hands-on company building.
- Regular LinkedIn posts on NWSL/WNBA growth and portfolio moves → uses public voice as a market signal, not just personal branding; she's making an argument with every post.
- Monarch Collective's fund expansion from $150M to $250M led by existing LPs re-upping → strong relationship capital; she likely rewards trust with access.
- Personally inspired by attending FIFA Women's World Cups → conviction here is experiential, not just analytical; she'll connect data to lived moments.
Conversation tips
- → Reference the FC Viktoria Berlin deal specifically — it's Monarch Collective's first overseas investment and signals a deliberate thesis expansion worth unpacking.
- → Ask about the fund-size expansion from $150M to $250M in March 2025 — the re-up from existing LPs like Pivotal Ventures is a proof point she'll have a view on.
- → Don't conflate the NWSL and WNBA stories — she writes about both with precision; treating them as interchangeable will signal you haven't done the work.
- → Angel City FC is a founding story she's told many times; go deeper by asking what she learned operationally from running a club that changed how she structures VC deals.
Toolbox
Openers
- Open on the FC Viktoria Berlin acquisition — Monarch Collective's first overseas deal (38% stake, November 2025) is a signal she's now underwriting European women's football valuations, which is a different analytical problem than US leagues.
- Reference All Raise — she co-founded it to structurally increase diversity in VC funds, not just write checks; it shows you understand she builds institutions, not just portfolios.
- Mention the fund re-up: expanding from $150M to $250M in March 2025 with existing LPs including Melinda French Gates' Pivotal Ventures is a specific validation data point worth surfacing as an opener.
Discovery questions
- When you took the first overseas bet on FC Viktoria Berlin, what did the valuation framework look like — are German Frauen-Bundesliga clubs being priced the way NWSL clubs were five years ago?
- You built All Raise as a structural fix, then Angel City FC as a club, then Monarch Collective as a fund — at what point did you decide a dedicated fund was the right vehicle rather than doing deals through a generalist firm?
- The fund expanded from $150M to $250M in under two years, mostly from existing LPs re-upping — what did that signal to you about how quickly the institutional appetite for women's sports is actually moving?
Avoid
Don't treat women's sports investment as a mission-first charity play — Kara structures these as return-seeking funds with institutional LPs, and framing it as philanthropy undersells the thesis she's built her career around.
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Try Brief →Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources on June 5, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.
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