Powerhouse agency CAA enters the high-stakes venture capital world

CAA is entering the high-stakes world of venture capital, where for every winning bet there’s five times as many losers.

In 2020, the powerhouse agency dipped a toe into investing via a partnership with VC firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA) called Connect Ventures. Now, the two are turning Connect into a fully fledged VC firm of its own and bringing in a Silicon Valley heavyweight to run it, Page Six Hollywood can exclusively report.

Nicole Quinn, a former partner at Lightspeed Ventures, whose investments included Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop, will run the new firm alongside Michael Blank, the CAA exec who spearheaded the earlier version of Connect.

CAA president Jim Burtson tells Page Six Hollywood that he knew the operation needed someone like Quinn aboard to give them credibility within the investment community: “You don’t get to this stage and this announcement without a Nicole.”

Burtson is bullish on this new avenue. Not only does it continue CAA’s efforts to diversify into new business lines, but Burtson believes that just having a seat at the table at “the cutting edge of where technology intersects with commerce and culture” will help their core business. (This does not mean that their clients will get preferential treatment on pitching their own start-ups, Burtson said. “Nicole and Mike are building a firm. It is not meant to be captive to CAA.”)

Quinn says that they’re eyeing many spaces that CAA is known for, including sports, media and entertainment, as well as health and wellness. The first two investments they shared with us are TMRW Sports, co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, as well as Music.AI, the developer behind audio apps AI Studio and Moises.

“AI is here and it’s not going away,” Blank added. “Part of what we can do is help create that bridge for folks in various industries that have been skeptical or fearful.”

Connect Ventures will largely be based within the agency’s Century City office, and CAA’s Adam Friedman will be the liaison between the two sides as a venture partner. He’ll spend around half of his time working with Connect. Burston is also on Connect’s board.

Neither Blank nor Quinn would divulge just how big of a fund they’re working with, but they did tell us they’re looking to lead or co-lead early-stage rounds — seed and Series A — with plans to drop between $5 and $15 million per investment.

In layman’s terms, these lead to the kind of equity stakes that get you board seats.