Adidas is going back to its family roots in striking a partnership with Legacy of Adi Dassler (Lead for short), an investment platform and a growth accelerator for sports-related start-ups launched in 2016 by four descendants of the late Adi Dassler, who founded Adidas in 1949. They are Horst, Klaus and Stefan Bente, who are the sons of Inge Bente, Adi’s eldest daughter, plus a great-grandson, Alexander Bente. They and other partners have been working together with Christoph Sonnen, the chief executive of Lead, a venture capital expert who is also a partner in the Advantage Sports Tech Fund. Together with Lead, Adidas wants to support innovations in the areas of sports technology and health, giving them eventually the possibility to work with Adidas. According to the German magazine Capital, Lead has already invested in almost 40 start-ups so far, including companies involved in tracking tennis matches and digital yoga coaching.

Topics