HRJ Capital: From Superbowls to Superfunds

Former National Football League (NFL) greats Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton launched a venture capital fund-of-funds in 1999 at the height of a venture capital bubble and called their new fund Champion Ventures. Champion became known for raising money from other widely known athletes and garnering allocations to the premier venture capital funds. However, the market for venture capital soon deteriorated, and Lott and Barton were forced to rethink their business model. They later renamed the business HRJ Capital and launched funds-of-funds in other investment classes and began targeting institutional investors.