In the San Francisco Bay Area, former San Francisco 49ers turned investment pros are raising two separate funds-of-funds.
In Danville, Calif.,
Meanwhile, across the Bay in Woodside, Calif.,
Both of the firms have invested in numerous brand name funds. Prior Northgate funds have invested in
Representatives of HRJ and Northgate did not respond to requests for comments.
Northgate, which was founded in 2000, closed a $157 million fund in January 2005 and reported it was three times oversubscribed. The firm capped Northgate Venture Partners II to ensure that it could confidently invest in 15 to 20 top tier VC firms. Fund III would be more than three times larger and is titled Northgate Private Equity Partners III.
Three of Northgate’s five managing directors played in the NFL—Mark Harris, Brent Jones and Thomas Vardell. The other two managing directors are Jared Stone, who was previously an investor at the buyout firm Bain Capital, and Hosein Khajeh-Hosseiny, a onetime executive at McKinsey Investment Office who joined the firm in 2004. The firm used to have 49ers quarterback Steve Young on the firm’s roster, but he left to join Utah-based
HRJ, formerly known as Champion Ventures, was co-founded by the other 49ers Super Bowl quarterback Joe Montana in 1999 with teammates Harris Barton and Ronnie Lott. Montana has since left the firm. In addition to Lott and Barton, who are the only HRJ employees listed as beneficial owners in the regulatory filing, the firm has a staff of 26, including Duran Curis, formerly of