Actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s new venture capital firm aims to raise $75 million in funding.
Key Details
- Paltrow’s venture capital firm Kinship Ventures was launched in 2021 and is run by Paltrow and the former CEO of BeautyCon Media, Moj Mahdara.
- The firm is looking to raise $75 million for its debut investing and will seek to put capital into early-stage consumer goods and technology companies, including web3 startups, according to Axios.
- The investment fund was previously part of an $87 million investment in cryptocurrency payment platform MoonPay, although the specific amount invested by Kinship is undetermined.
Why it’s news
Actress and wellness enthusiast Gwyneth Paltrow is expanding her business reach by launching a venture capital fund primarily focusing on education tech, health tech, beauty, essentials, and wellness industries.
Kinship Ventures was launched in 2021 and now seeks $75 million in its debut fund. It will seek to invest in early-stage consumer goods and technology companies, including web3 startups, with checks ranging from $500,000 to $3 million, according to Axios.
Although Paltrow is mainly known for her acting attributions, she has also had business success. She started Goop, a wellness and lifestyle brand, in 2008.
The brand began as a newsletter but shortly after transformed into a website and online shop featuring everything about fashion, lifestyle, and wellness. The company has been very successful, hosting wellness retreats and events and receiving a docu-series on Netflix in 2020 titled The Goop Lab.
Goop has been featured in the news many times for promoting and selling odd and almost inappropriate items, and in 2021, Business Insider reported that over 140 employees had departed the company in 2019 due to low pay and leadership difficulties.
Celebrity venture capitals
Paltrow isn’t the only celebrity stepping away from the spotlight and diving into business.
Tennis star Serena Williams launched her firm Serena Ventures in 2014 and raised $111 million in its inaugural fund in 2022. The firm plans to invest in “founders with diverse points of view.”
Williams retired from her successful tennis career in September 2022 and is turning her attention to family and running the venture-capital firm she hopes to turn into a billion-dollar fund.
In September, reality star Kim Kardashian launched her own private equity firm called SKKY Partners. The firm aims to focus on both control and minority investments in high-growth, market-leading consumer and media companies.
Her partner for the company is Jay Sammons, the former head of consumer, media, and retail at Carlyle Group, an American multinational equity group.