Retired tennis pro turned venture capital investor CiCi Bellis has closed on her first investment, a stake in hologram tech firm Proto. The investment is through her recently founded firm Cartan Capital.
“Our focus is on sports tech and health tech and Proto hits both of those verticals,” Bellis said in a phone call. “They’ve had a lot of exposure in sports, sports stadiums, big name professional athletes… we really like the in-stadium and fan engagement angle that Proto brings.”
Proto makes video technology that projects a hologram—a realistic-looking, three-dimensional image—displayed on a seven-foot tall screen called The Epic. The life-sized holograms include shadows that give the impression the person is actually present. In recent months, the Dallas Cowboys have installed a Proto hologram of Jerry Jones along the route of their stadium tour, which responds to questions using AI technology. The recent Army-Navy game featured each team’s conditioning coaches arguing across from each other in a stadium concourse, while CBS Sports has used the Epic to project remote interview subjects into their broadcast studio. Teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS have all used Proto for events, as have F1, the U.S. Open and the FIFA Women’s World Cup, according to the company. Proto also produces a table-top sized version, called the M, which retails for $6,900.
Cartan Capital is investing $250,000 as part of Proto’s $5 million fundraise. The round, which still needs about $1.5 million reach its target, will be used to fund a new product, Proto CEO David Nussbaum said in a video call.
“We believe this is the future of retail and tech scalability, the future of interactive communication and computing,” Nussbaum said of the new product, while declining to discuss it in detail. “This is spatial computing without the headset, without having to download anything. The device is thin, it’s light, it’s volumetric and it creates just awe-inspiring projections that I believe are perfect for sports arenas, for Halls of Fame, for retail environments, for colleges and universities.”
In addition to stadium fan engagement, Proto has applications for retail—the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets use one in their merchandise shop to show off gear—as well as medical training. Nussbaum, who early in his career sold ads for New York Yankees radio broadcasts, said about two dozen colleges such as Harvard and MIT use the system, mainly for featuring remote academic lecturers. To transmit to a Proto device, people need a well-lit space, a 4K camera—like the kind that are standard on recent iPhones—and an app from the company.
Two years ago, Proto closed a Series A round raising $12 million. Investors in that fundraise include famed tech VC Tim Draper, retired Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch and True Cresset Sports & Entertainment, which is a multi-family office for athletes. Other athlete investors in Proto include Brittney Griner, Robert Griffin III, Albert Pujols and Luke Walton. According to Nussbaum, the business has three dozen athlete investors, some of whom are current players. Other backers include Howie Mandel, Paris Hilton, Lil Wayne and William Shatner. Mike Walsh, an early Uber investor, and Christie’s Ventures, an investment arm of the auction house, round out the disclosed backers.
For Bellis, the investment is the first for Cartan’s initial $10 million VC fund. Generally, the fund prefers to invest more early in the investment process, seeking seed and Series A deals, but the later stage investment for Proto fit with her fund’s focus. Proto, she said, was a business she had identified when she was an analyst at another investment firm, though Proto didn’t fit that fund’s guidelines.
“I was always very impressed with the founders, their vision with Proto and felt like it was an incredible first investment for us,” said Bellis. “We think Proto is the next wave of communication. One of the main things we’re excited about is how many different industries Proto has exposure in,” particularly in health care.
Bellis was a tennis pro in the WTA from 2017 into 2022, reaching a rank of 35 in her debut year. The 24-year-old was an analyst at Lead Sports & Health Tech Partners for two years before launching Cartan. She also is an advisor to social-focused tennis app Break The Love among other sports-focused start-ups and does broadcast work for The Tennis Channel.