Cordillera Investment Partners—an investment management firm that exclusively invests in niche, non-correlated assets—announced a $10 million investment in the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), a global sports body co-owned by its professional athletes. The funding will support the PTO’s growth initiatives.
This PTO transaction supports the firm’s founding thesis for identifying assets that are under the radar to the institutional investment world but demonstrate compelling growth and return potential. Within sports, Cordillera sees opportunities in emerging leagues and formats, women’s sports, sports-related professional services businesses, and professional teams in lower tiers of competition. And since 2014, Cordillera has made investments in sports media rights, whiskey, boat marinas, carbon credits, and other niche sectors.
The founding investor in the PTO was Michael Moritz in 2020. And other investors who have joined Moritz and the professional athletes in creating the new T100 Triathlon World Tour to professionalize the sport and take it into the mainstream include: Divergent Investments, an innovative private equity fund; Warner Bros. Discovery, a leading global media and entertainment company; and health-focused venture fund, Eckuity when the PTO announced a Series B round in December 2022.
Last year, the PTO launched the T100 Triathlon World Tour, which featured the world’s top 20 female and top 20 male triathletes, along with amateur competitors, to compete head-to-head on a live global broadcast feed in a series of events in major cities, including Singapore, San Francisco, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas, and Dubai.
This year, the new T100 Triathlon World Tour will grow from seven to nine races, including a return to Singapore on 5-6 April, then San Francisco (31 May-1 June), Vancouver (13-15 June), France (27-29 June), London (9-10 August), Valencia (20 September), Lake Las Vegas, Dubai (15-16 November), and Qatar (12-13 December) for the new Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.
KEY QUOTES:
“For over 10 years, it has been our mission to find the “nooks and crannies” within overlooked sectors of the global economy. Sports is an industry we have had a thesis on for some time, and PTO is a prime example of an emerging league in a corner of the sports universe that is growing in popularity and fandom. We are thrilled to support Sam and the professional triathletes on their next phase of growth.”
– Agustin “Gus” Araya, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Cordillera
“Professional triathletes have seen the rise of our sport but the growth at the pro end hasn’t necessarily tracked the participation growth. Football, the NFL, and tennis have been multibillion-dollar sports for a long time. Triathlon has really been in the dark ages from a commercial and broadcast perspective, and that’s why the PTO was formed. We are thrilled to have Cordillera’s support as we continue to grow our sport.”
“Triathlon appeals to the executive and the professional class – which is a very attractive group to market to. The whole point of the PTO is that although you have this incredibly valuable market that is global, it is completely fragmented by the lack of a media product and season-long narrative to showcase our amazing athletes.”
– Sam Renouf, CEO of PTO
