Serena Williams and husband Alexis Ohanian celebrate "Serena Ventures" venture capital fund raising $111 million
Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a photo of the duo celebrating the success of the legendary tennis players' venture capital firm. The firm, called Serena Ventures, successfully raised $111 million last week to fund early-stage startups.
Ohanian posted a photo of the former World No. 1 at a fancy dinner venue. The 38-year-old also said he hoped that the recent success was only the start of much bigger things to come for the investment company.
"We celebrated the big [Serena Ventures] news last week and I finally got around to posting a photo," Ohanian captioned the post. "Much more to come, mama."
According to Williams, her firm's inaugural fund was a massive success to the point that it was over-subscribed. Over the last few years, the 40-year-old has been acting as an angel investor for companies that "solve everyday problems through unconventional thinking and diverse points of view."
Speaking to Black Enterprise, the American disclosed that she decided to start her firm after coming across a statistic that said that around 98% of all VC money goes to men.
Wanting to change that, Serena Williams launched her own company with the goal of adding a more diverse perspective to the investment landscape and giving opportunities to historically underrepresented communities.
“I was at a conference and Caryn Seidman-Becker, the founder of CLEAR was on stage and she said less than 2% of all VC money goes to women. I legit thought she misspoke because 98% is a huge number. I couldn’t wrap my mind around basically almost 100% of money is going to the men," Williams said. "I wanted to really bring diversity to VC in the way that I could. And the only way to change those numbers was to be the person writing the big checks.”
Serena Williams has missed Indian Wells Open for 2nd year in a row
On the tennis court, however, things are not looking as bright for Serena Williams. She has been sidelined for nine months due to a leg injury she sustained at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
Ben Rothenberg 
Novak Djokovic has not withdrawn from Indian Wells officially yet as his name is still in entry list 🤔
But his picture is already on "We miss you" wall in Indian Wells along with Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Ash Barty 🤨
📷 Ben Rothenberg
#NovakDjokovic #IndianWells https://t.co/6MWff1YuJH
The former World No. 1 is out of the upcoming Indian Wells Open, a tournament she has won twice before in 1999 and 2001. More worryingly, there has been no official word from the American's camp regarding a possible return to the WTA tour.
Missing two Grand Slams in a row has adversely affected the 23-time Grand Slam champion's ranking, dropping to World No. 238.