NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony, the Brooklyn-born basketball star who recently formed a technology investment fund, wants to be known as a “digital athlete.”
Anthony, 30, is learning how to read business plans, getting advice from top Silicon Valley investors and parlaying his interest in wearable devices into investment opportunities as he helps run Melo7 Tech Partners, a fund that has invested in about six technology startups.
“I really want to be the pioneer for that digital athlete,” Anthony said during an interview at the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit in New York. “When it comes to tech I want to be the face of that space for us.”
Anthony, originally drafted by the Denver Nuggets, had a busy summer. Anthony signed a five-year contract worth about $125 million to stay with the New York Knicks. About a week later, Anthony announced the formation of Melo7 Tech Partners.
Melo7, which combines Anthony’s nickname and jersey number, has announced investments in Hullabalu Inc., which creates digital children’s books, and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was also part of a $35 million Series B round for SeatGeek.
