Michael Jordan Joins Venture Capitalists in Gigster Investment

(Bloomberg) -- Michael Jordan is trying his hand as a venture capitalist.

San Francisco-based startup Gigster announced today that it has raised $20 million from a group of investors that includes the six-time NBA champion and Charlotte Hornets majority owner. The three-year-old Gigster, which connects freelance web engineers and developers with companies looking for help, has raised $32.5 million. The most recent fundraising round was led by Redpoint Ventures, along with Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, and Marc Benioff. (Bloomberg LP’s venture capital fund Bloomberg Beta is also an investor.)

Jordan is part of a wave of current and former athletes, especially from the NBA, who are taking stakes in Silicon Valley startups. He invested previously in the Switzerland-based sports data company Sportradar. A representative for Jordan declined to comment.

“He is somebody that I have always looked up to and admired, and we thought it would be great to have a more diverse set of investors at the table,"  said Gigster co-founder and CEO Roger Dickey. The company has been in talks with leagues and teams about becoming customers, he said, and Jordan could help with those efforts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ira Boudway in New York at iboudway@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net.