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L Catterton, the leading consumer-focused investment firm with approximately $40 billion of equity capital under management, and Patricof Co (P/Co), the specialised athlete investment and advisory platform, have announced the formation of CHAMP — short for “CHampion Athlete Managing Partner” — a new strategic partnership built around a distinctive athlete co-ownership model. The launch was announced on April 23, 2026, and represents the institutionalisation of nearly a decade of collaboration between the two firms.
CHAMP’s defining characteristic is its athlete ownership structure: athletes participate directly alongside L Catterton and Patricof Co as co-owners of portfolio companies, creating a powerful and authentic alignment of interests that differs meaningfully from traditional athlete-brand endorsement relationships. The model is paired with a proprietary Athlete Activation framework designed to translate cultural relevance into sustainable, measurable growth for portfolio brands.
To date, more than 250 elite athletes have partnered with CHAMP, including some of the most influential names across professional basketball, football, baseball, and golf — among them Cade Cunningham, Cooper Flagg, Kevin Durant (35V), Tyrese Haliburton, Azzi Fudd, Cameron Brink, Sophie Cunningham, Dak Prescott, Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, Bobby Witt Jr., Corbin Carroll, Logan Webb, Mike Trout, Tarik Skubal, Nacho Figueras, Patrick Cantlay, and Livvy Dunne.
CHAMP will target both emerging and scaled consumer brands that can benefit from authentic athlete involvement to accelerate awareness, deepen consumer engagement, and unlock new avenues for growth. The strategy is particularly oriented toward companies with strong underlying brand affinity but untapped visibility — businesses where athlete activation can act as a meaningful catalyst for category leadership.
The platform draws on dedicated resources from both firms: L Catterton’s global investment infrastructure and consumer investing expertise alongside P/Co’s deep athlete relationships and activation capabilities. CHAMP is intended to complement L Catterton’s existing investment platforms while extending the firm’s ability to partner with consumer businesses through differentiated sources of insight, access, and engagement.
CHAMP is the natural evolution of nearly a decade of partnership between L Catterton and Patricof Co, with shared investments across iconic consumer brands including Cholula Hot Sauce, Kodiak Cakes, and RealTruck, among others. The new platform formalises and scales the operating model both firms have refined over years of joint deal execution.
Scott Dahnke, Global CEO of L Catterton, framed CHAMP as a thoughtful extension of L Catterton’s consumer investing approach — built around the observation that consumer behaviour is undergoing a profound and secular shift driven by the convergence of culture, technology, and media. He highlighted that L Catterton’s proprietary research identifies athletes as among the most trusted and influential voices in this evolving landscape, and emphasised that CHAMP combines L Catterton’s global investment platform and deep consumer expertise with Patricof Co’s athlete relationships to execute a systematic framework for translating cultural relevance into sustainable growth — while preserving the rigorous investment diligence for which the firm is known.
Mark Patricof, Founder and CEO of Patricof Co, described CHAMP as the institutionalisation of years of relationship-building with some of the world’s most prominent athletes — and the recognition that athletes drive better outcomes when they have meaningful “skin in the game.” He emphasised that partnering with L Catterton, a firm that shares P/Co’s conviction and brings deep consumer investing experience, enables both firms to scale their demonstrated outcomes to an institutional platform.
L Catterton is a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm managing approximately $40 billion of equity capital across multiproduct platforms dedicated to private equity, credit, and real estate. The firm’s funds invest between $5 million and $5 billion across the capital structure in well-positioned consumer businesses. Leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad network of strategic relationships, L Catterton’s team of more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 18 offices partners with management teams to drive differentiated value creation across its portfolio. Founded in 1989, the firm has made over 300 investments in some of the world’s most iconic consumer brands.
Patricof Co (P/Co) is a highly specialised investment and advisory platform focused on delivering differentiated private investment opportunities and strategic guidance to a select network of professional athletes. P/Co supports its athlete clients with advisory services that develop the network and knowledge base necessary to become successful, independent-minded investors and high-performing business professionals. The firm invests across a range of alternative investment categories where it can be a value-added partner, and through a bespoke portfolio operations group, P/Co operationalises the cultural impact of athletes-as-shareholders at scale.
CHAMP (CHampion Athlete Managing Partner) is a new strategic partnership between L Catterton and Patricof Co, formed to invest in consumer brands where deeply aligned athlete involvement can step-function growth. CHAMP combines a distinctive athlete co-ownership model with a proprietary Athlete Activation framework, enabling more than 250 elite athletes to participate as direct co-owners alongside the firms in select consumer brand investments.
