Deal Brief · Week of Oct 26
Tracking the deals shaping the business of culture.
Investments
Cristiano Ronaldo Invests €10M in a New Mineral Water Brand in Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo is investing €10 million for a 50 percent stake in a new mineral water venture in northern Portugal alongside domestic beverage company Grupo Outeirinho. The partners are committing nearly €20 million in total to build a bottling facility in the village of Gostei, with construction scheduled to finish in late 2027 ahead of commercial production in early 2028.
The plant is designed to produce 500-600 million liters annually across glass and plastic lines for both domestic and export markets. Ronaldo launched the Spanish alkaline water brand Ursu9 in 2023. Pairing his global distribution pull with an industrial operator that controls more than 40 percent of Portugal’s bottled water market gives this venture immediate manufacturing scale.
Russell Wilson and Ciara Invest in Wearable HealthTech Company Qalo
Russell Wilson and Ciara have invested in Qalo and joined the company’s ownership group to support its expansion into wearable health tracking. Founded in 2013 as a maker of functional silicone wedding rings for athletes and active workers, Qalo built a customer base of more than 2.2 million buyers before entering consumer electronics.
The company now sells the SR-2 Smart Ring and SL-1 Smart Band, which monitor sleep, recovery, stress, and daily activity. By pairing FSA and HSA reimbursement eligibility with a hardware model that requires no monthly software subscription, Qalo is positioning itself as a lower-cost challenger to subscription-heavy incumbents like Oura and Whoop.
Belinda Bencic Becomes an Investor and Global Brand Ambassador for KA-EX
Swiss tennis player and Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic has taken an equity stake in Zurich-based nutrition company KA-EX and signed on as its global brand ambassador. Bencic began using the company’s recovery formulas earlier this year through her training staff before joining the cap table.
Founded in 2017 by ETH Zurich pharmaceutical scientist Pedro Schmidt, KA-EX established its domestic business supplying European football clubs and endurance athletes. The partnership coincides with the company’s retail push into the United States, where it is rolling out its Cortisol Stress Reducer and Creatine EAA+ Booster across GNC, Gopuff, Earth Bar, and Rumble studios.
Jobe Bellingham Leads $10M Raise for Premier League-Backed Sports Tech Firm Rezzil
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jobe Bellingham has led a $10 million strategic growth round in Manchester-based sports technology company Rezzil, with existing backer the Premier League also participating. The 21-year-old’s investment is paired with a broader agreement for Rezzil to supply technology for the Bellingham family’s future digital projects, adding to a cap table that includes NBA Launchpad, Thierry Henry, and Vincent Kompany.
Best known for virtual reality training and 3D tactical recreations used on Sky Sports and the BBC, Rezzil will use the capital to double its headcount to roughly 100 and open a Chicago office led by former NBA and Hawk-Eye executive Jake Loos. By expanding its focus into what it calls “Movement Intelligence,” the firm is looking to license the same underlying player-tracking and motion data across club coaching, live broadcast graphics, and consumer mobile games.
New ventures
Kawhi Leonard Launches Full-Service Creative Agency, Lavish Mountain Studios
Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard has expanded his production banner into a full-service creative agency called Lavish Mountain Studios to develop original entertainment, including an animated series, alongside commercial work for outside brands.
The agency debuted with New Balance as its first client ahead of the October release of the KAWHI V signature shoe. Leonard served as creative director for the broader campaign and directed and executive produced its centerpiece short film, That’s Whi, about his childhood path into basketball.
Bringing creative direction and commercial production in-house allows Kawhi to capture agency production budgets from his sponsors while controlling how his signature lines are marketed.
Two-Time Olympian Meghan O’Leary and Emmy Winning Producer Kira Karlstrom Launches Creative Agency, Triple Threat
Meghan O’Leary and Kira Karlstrom have launched Triple Threat Ventures Group, a talent management and creative agency built around athlete-owned intellectual property. O’Leary previously led commercial development for LA28, while Karlstrom played professional basketball in Europe before running global entertainment marketing at Twitch and holding roles at ESPN, Marvel, and NBCUniversal.
The firm combines talent representation and original production with an internal AI platform, Br3kaway, that handles contract analysis and deal valuation. The launch formalizes a model the pair tested during the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game with the “StudBudz” livestream, which generated 37 million minutes viewed and $1 million in sponsorship revenue, and opens with a client list that includes Coach, Twitch, and USRowing.
Fundraising and acquisitions
Frost Bank’s Parent Invests $5M in Harrison Barnes’ Bank Holding Company
Cullen/Frost Bankers, the $53.9 billion parent of San Antonio’s Frost Bank, has invested $5 million in Barnes Bancorp, the holding company San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes used to acquire Community State Bank in Paton, Iowa. Cullen/Frost receives preferred stock in the company, providing fresh capital for the rural lender located 40 minutes from Barnes’ hometown of Ames.
Barnes committed $25 million earlier in 2026 to buy the bank after serving on bank boards in Iowa and Texas and taking courses through the Iowa School of Banking. For Cullen/Frost, which has partnered with the Spurs for more than 50 years, backing Barnes’ holding company strengthens a local franchise relationship while helping the Texas lender meet federal requirements for supporting low- and moderate-income communities.
Travis and Jason Kelce’s Garage Beer Lands $20M to Expand Into New Products and Markets
Garage Beer, the Columbus-based light lager co-owned by Travis and Jason Kelce, has secured a $20 million revolving credit facility from Tiger Finance to fund new product lines and national distribution. The Kelce brothers acquired a majority stake in the brand in mid-2024, followed by a strategic investment from consumer private equity firm Durational Capital late last year.
Securing asset-backed debt gives the company non-dilutive working capital to finance inventory and distributor expansion across new states, allowing the Kelces and Durational to scale production volume during a broader beer slowdown without giving up additional equity.
Olympic Medalist Andrew Steele’s Stride Raises £4.6M Seed Round
Former British Olympic sprinter Andrew Steele has raised a £4.6 million seed round for Stride, a UK diagnostics and preventive health membership platform. Arāya Ventures and Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures co-led the financing, joined by Better Ventures, Innovate UK, and an a16z Scout Fund investor.
Stride combines DNA, blood, and microbiome testing into a single subscription that tracks biological age across nine blood biomarkers, reporting 85 percent member retention over its first 13 months as it prepares for a US launch. The company marks a second consumer diagnostics venture for the 2008 Beijing bronze medalist, who previously co-founded genetics startup DNAfit, sold it to Prenetics in 2018, and stayed on as an executive through its Nasdaq listing.
Five MLB Players Join Agentiq, the Fan-to-Athlete Investing Platform That Just Raised $4M
New York fintech startup Agentiq Sports has raised $4 million to launch a platform where retail investors can buy fractional stakes in an athlete’s future on-field earnings. Led by defy.vc alongside the owner of two European football clubs, the company debuted with five baseball signings headlined by Arizona Diamondbacks closer Justin Martinez, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez, and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Hunter Dobbins.
Founded by Zach Kurtz and Reuben Abraham, Agentiq structures each player contract as an SEC-qualified Regulation A+ offering, providing athletes with upfront, non-debt capital in exchange for a defined cut of future on-field brand income. Private investment funds have quietly signed more than 2,000 minor league and early-career players to opaque income-share agreements over the past decade, and Agentiq is testing whether packaging those contracts as freely tradable public securities can attract everyday sports fans.
Brand endorsements
Miami WR Malachi Toney Signs NIL Deal With Red Bull
University of Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney has signed an NIL endorsement deal with Red Bull following a breakout start to the 2026 season in which he recorded 604 receiving yards and six touchdowns across his first five games. The agreement follows Toney’s September partnerships with Adidas and FIT House Brands.
Red Bull keeps one of the smallest college rosters in the beverage category, bypassing broad school collectives to sign individual headliners. Toney joins a selective college football group that includes Texas quarterback Arch Manning, Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, Oregon’s Dakorien Moore, and Baylor’s DJ Lagway.
Knicks Guard Landry Shamet Signs Shoe Deal With Chinese Brand Serious Player Only
New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet has signed a multi-year footwear endorsement deal with Serious Player Only, a Chinese performance basketball brand founded in 2022. The company built an early following among amateur players with lightweight, low-profile guard shoes that use swappable drop-in midsoles.
Until now, the brand’s professional footprint was limited primarily to G League and two-way players such as Lester Quinones and Jonathan Mogbo. Adding a veteran rotation shooter in the New York media market gives Serious Player Only nightly NBA court visibility as a growing cohort of Asian footwear challengers pursues NBA role players passed over for signature deals by major US brands.
Nike Adds 11 Stanford Athletes to Its Blue Ribbon Elite NIL Roster
Nike has added 11 Stanford University athletes across eight sports to its Blue Ribbon Elite NIL program, deepening a university apparel partnership that spans more than 25 years. The group includes football players Micah Ford, Nico Brown, and Jay Green, women’s basketball guard Hailee Swain, Olympic gymnast Levi Jung-Ruivivar, and varsity athletes across soccer, volleyball, softball, swimming, and baseball.
The additions push Nike’s national Blue Ribbon Elite roster past 100 college athletes. By signing a multi-sport class across both revenue and Olympic programs at a flagship partner school, Nike is using structured NIL retainers that include product testing and campaign input to lock in top campus talent early.
Partnerships
Spindrift Partners with Longtime Investor Dak Prescott to Launch Limited-Edition Dak Pak
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is fronting a new national campaign for sparkling water maker Spindrift, moving from a quiet cap-table investor to a commercial face for the Massachusetts beverage company. Alongside starring in the brand’s “Fake Nothing” advertising spot, Prescott is releasing a $20 limited-edition “Dak Pak” online bundle.
Targeted at fall football tailgates, the bundle includes Cranberry Punch and Fuji Apple cans, alongside a custom autographed YETI colster and a signed rope hat. Spindrift is donating 100 percent of the purchase price from every bundle shipped to a Texas address to Prescott’s Faith Fight Finish Foundation, using a charitable rebate in the quarterback’s home market to drive direct-to-consumer orders.
Saquon Barkley and H. Moser & Cie. Team up on a Limited-Edition Watch
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has collaborated with independent Swiss watchmaker H. Moser & Cie. on a limited-edition Pioneer Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton, a year after joining the company as a brand ambassador. Priced at $99,600 and limited to 97 pieces, the 42.8 mm steel timepiece pairs an openworked HMC 811 automatic movement with a domed, star-speckled aventurine subdial.
Barkley worked with Moser’s watchmakers on subtle design nods, including luminous hour markers at two and six o’clock that glow a contrasting color in the dark to reference his No. 26 jersey. For a boutique Swiss manufacture that produces roughly 4,000 watches a year, collaborating on a nearly six-figure complicated piece with an NFL star reflects a targeted push to win over top-tier American sports collectors.
John Daly Signs Multiyear Deal With Topgolf
Two-time major champion John Daly has signed a multiyear partnership with Topgolf that makes the driving-range chain his official headquarters during Masters week in 2027 and 2028. Building on a trial appearance at Topgolf Augusta in April 2026, the national agreement also rolls out two ready-to-drink John Daly cocktails and his “Daly Vibe” apparel line across 55 US venues.
Since 1997, Daly had parked his RV outside the Washington Road Hooters in Augusta during the tournament to sell merchandise and sign autographs, a one-week pop-up operation that generated roughly $780,000 in sales in 2024 alone. After that restaurant closed and was demolished in 2025, he continued his tradition at Topgolf’s downtown Augusta location during the 2026 Masters. Topgolf then moved in and turn Daly’s annual Augusta residency into a year-round beverage and retail program across its national footprint.
