The fight for gender equality in 2025 has largely stalled at home and abroad — and in some cases, fallen back. In America, women have fewer rights and protections today than they did nearly 50 years ago. And globally, it will take at least 134 years to reach full gender party. But there’s one significant factor that could move the needle forward: male allyship.
Enter investor Alexis Ohanion.
The co-founder of Reddit and Seven Seven Six Ventures — an early-stage venture capital firm with nearly $1 billion in assets under management — has made it his mission to invest in underrepresented entrepreneurs, especially women of color.
“I’ve seen now from the inside just how … disappointing a lot of these industries have been treated by the men in charge — and women’s professional sports is chief among them,” he told Forbes EVP, Moira Forbes Thursday at the 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi.
Now in its fourth year, the summit — created by Forbes and Know Your Value — brings together generations of the most influential female leaders, influencers and innovators for unprecedented networking, mentorship, and leadership opportunities — all with the goal of fostering gender equity and lasting allyship.
Ohanian’s role in fomenting investment and attention around women’s sports has transformed the industry. The 41-year-old father and husband to tennis icon Serena Williams helped launch Angel City FC in 2020 as a founding control owner, part of the National Women’s Soccer League. Today, the team is valued at $300 million, the highest valuation ever for a women’s sports franchise, according to Ohanian.
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“Investing in women’s professional sports was unthinkable five years ago,” Ohanian recalled. “I had so many … random people on the internet, to other investors who I respected — they all told me I was going to lose all my money — it would never work and I’m very happy to prove them wrong.”
The investments in women’s franchises has proven timely. Women’s elite sports have seen unprecedented growth, estimated to reach a record $1 billion in revenues due to the surging fan-base growth, as well as broadcast and commercial interest.
That’s why Ohanian started his venture firm with founding partner Katelin Holloway, which in turn led to the 776 Foundation, supporting marginalized individuals. He said the companies were in part, inspired by his daughter.
“Olympia was, in many ways, my North Star,” Ohanian said. “I wanted to keep building businesses and doing it in a way that I know I’m going to be proud of … so I seeded it with $100 million of my own money and said, ‘I’m going to use this to drive the best possible business outcomes.’”
So far, the bets have paid off. Ohanian credits his outsider status — coming from tech instead of a traditional sports background — with recognizing undervalued investment opportunities.
“In emerging sports and in women’s sports in particular, you have to earn every one of those viewers,” he explained. “You’re not going to be guaranteed to get great premium placement or top broadcast dollars … you have to earn it on social media at the start … and it turns out so many of these fans are digital native.”
He first noticed the shift in fan base three years ago within the NCAA. “The women of college basketball … dominated the men in followers,” he said. “And so then it no longer made sense why the NCAA was not giving [women athletes] a gym or a weight room, was not letting them even use the phrase ‘March Madness,’ was not promoting them on television, because the free market was speaking loud and clear.”
For Ohanian, the inertia in sports equity represented not only sexism and racism, but “gross business negligence.”
Among his efforts to rectify that, he expanded his portfolio of women’s sports enterprises by launching the first annual Athlos NYC, a women-only track and field meet that took place in New York City following the Summer Games. The Coachella-style event — attended by 5,000 fans, celebrities and athletes — featured star Olympians Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown and Faith Kipyegon, among others who raced for record cash prizes, as well as a concert from three-time Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion.
“The team did a hell of a job, but it all started with asking these athletes what they wanted,” Ohanian said about Athlos. “All we had to do is make sure these athletes, the fastest women in the world, had the best meet of their lives, and if we could do that right then we were going to be a success.”
Amid the success of his recent ventures, Ohanian acknowledged how his marriage to Williams has influenced his perspective and the way he’s tried to motivate others toward more equitable industry change.
“One of the greatest privileges of being in an interracial relationship in particular is that I get to feel that discomfort often when I get a blind spot called out,” he said. “And I think one of the biggest advantages to being in rooms with folks who are not like you — assuming you’ve got a candid, honest, loving relationship — is you get a bigger perspective, a better perspective on the things you see and the things you don’t.”
Ultimately Ohanian believes that capitalism, when directed responsibly, can be a catalyst for tremendous social change. “If you’re captivated by women’s sports today — and you should be — just wait and see,” Ohanian said. “In another 10 years the girls who are watching today — those teenagers going all in on sports, entering the drafts, going on professional teams — you will see the fruits of that and it will be an even better fan experience.”
Bianca Brosh