When it comes to the global sports product and outdoor gear industry, Oregon is the undisputed capital, anchored by Nike’s world headquarters, Adidas’s North American hub, and an extensive network of athletic brands.
It is fitting, then, that when the nation’s very first angel investor network dedicated exclusively to sports products and sports technology launched in 2017, it called Oregon home. What many don’t realize is that Oregon Sports Angels (OSA) was born directly out of a classroom at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business.
In early 2017, the college’s UO Sports Product Management (SPM) graduate program in Portland was preparing to graduate its inaugural cohort under cofounder Ellen Schmidt-Devlin. To provide real-world feedback, the program invited seasoned sports industry veterans—including former Nike executive Kate Delhagen—to evaluate student product pitches.
For Delhagen, watching students present innovative footwear, apparel, and equipment sparked an immediate revelation.
“We recognized the fact that we have serious talent right here in Oregon, and it naturally raised the question: What if we could organize some investors to seed these companies?” Delhagen said.
John Hull, who managed the Lundquist College’s Portland programs at the time, noted that while Portland possessed a thriving tech angel scene, nothing existed for its signature industry.
“We are like the Silicon Valley of retired sports industry people,” Hull recalled. “There are more Adidas and Nike people floating around the hills around Portland than anywhere in the country, and there wasn’t really a support system for startups in that space.”
Nancy Monsarrat, a 28-year Nike marketing veteran and OSA founding member, also realized the immense potential for students looking to blaze their own trails.
“Many of these students graduate and go on to work at Nike or Adidas or On. But many of them also have their own ideas,” Monsarrat said. “Wouldn’t it be great to help support those ideas?”
Embracing the motto “jump and the net will appear,” Delhagen rallied a small group of industry veterans to pool funds and seed their very first venture: Odd Lot Labs, a novel backpack company founded by recent UO SPM graduates. The company eventually sold, returning the investors’ capital and proving the model worked.
Nearly a decade later, OSA has evolved into a sophisticated network of roughly three dozen members—60 percent based in Oregon and 40 percent nationwide—spanning sports executives, attorneys, medical professionals, and former athletes.
To date, OSA has invested approximately $10 million across 56 portfolio companies, deploying between $1.1 million and $1.2 million annually. OSA remains one of only two investor networks in the country focused strictly on tangible sports products and sports technology.
Founders seeking capital can submit their pitches directly through a dedicated portal on the organization’s websitewhere screening committees review submissions weekly. Promising applicants are vetted through rigorous committee calls, culminating in pitch days where selected companies present directly to network investors.
“We’re not doing any teams, leagues, or sports venues,” explained OSA President Jim Chi, a founding member and former Nike product leader. “It’s purely tech and product companies, and that’s given us a unique position.”
Chi also noted that OSA remains closely connected with the University of Oregon and the Lundquist College of Business:
- Mentorship and Classroom Engagement: OSA members regularly serve as guest speakers for the Warsaw Sports Business Center and act as dedicated industry mentors for SPM capstone students.
- Hands-On Internships: The network routinely hosts graduate interns, such as recent UO JD/MBA and Warsaw Center alumnus Casey Mornhinweg, who helped implement OSA’s current digital deal-flow platform.
- Student-Athlete Entrepreneurship: Chi and fellow members have visited campus to educate UO football players and their families on financial literacy, NIL opportunities, and angel investing.
- A Commercialization Roadmap: Chi is also currently collaborating with the Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship and Launch Oregon to establish a formal pathway for UO student and faculty founders to connect with OSA.
“There’s a lot of love for the university,” Chi reflected. “If we can get companies out of the UO environment that are sports tech and sports product focused, we are the ideal partner to bring them through.”
OSA’s growth also shows how higher education continues to act as an economic engine for the state. By connecting students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, the university and the college help foster innovation, support emerging businesses, and advance Oregon’s (and the world’s) sports industry.
Source: business.uoregon.edu
