While it has been a calming few months for Andre De Grasse after the golden comeback in September 2023, the Olympic champion has been working on multiple things during the break. Track and field athletes garner immense moolah via brand deals and diversifying their portfolios. But once they are past their prime, they have very few post-retirement income sources, and starting with himself, De Grasse has been working to make amends in the billion-dollar industry, especially in Canada.

The 29-year-old has worked as the brand ambassador for several brands, which include Plantiga, and Tut Fitness. However, he didn’t take money from them. De Grasse has been racking equities instead and is now launching his own brand. Giving impetus to his business acumen is exactly his grand vision, but there’s more to the galvanizing story than meets the eye.

Andre De Grasse ventures into entrepreneurship

Setting new trends in athletics, Andre De Grasse has launched ADG Ignite Ventures. It’s not a typical startup nor a typical venture capitalist firm. “We identify opportunity“, said ADG’s business manager Brian Levine. The core theme of the organization would be investment, but sans capital. Instead, brands may partner with De Grasse and then offer equity rather than cash. As of now, ADG Ignite Ventures aims to not spend capital until De Grasse hangs up his boots. The Canadian could later invest his own money and maybe raise the capital as well.

Although investing has been a growing trend among American athletes in the last decade, the 29-year-old is among the first to make a move in Canada. “He’s really the first athlete in Canada that I’m aware of that’s doing this“, said John Ruffolo, who is among the advisors of De Grasse and the founder of Maverix Private Equity. Meanwhile, the six-time Olympic medalist has alluded to and similarly drawn comparisons between start-up founders and Olympic sprinters.

De Grasse compares entrepreneurs and athletes

De Grasse’s tryst into investment started in 2018 after he met Plantiga founder Quin Sandler. Later, he became the company’s first athlete investor and brand ambassador. Similar deals followed suit with TUT Fitness, Headversity, and Disco. De Grasse expressed that he ‘developed a passion for it throughout the years’ and feels start-up founders are like Olympic athletes.

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“They remind me of myself a bit where you start off, and now we’re trying to blow it up. We’re trying to make it big.”, De Grasse expressed. He further added that both businesses and athletics demanded a lot of hard work and effort. The Canadian star has Astana 60m lined up for him later this month and will look to overtake his personal best of 6.60 from 2015.

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