Former NFL player Marques Colston is making it easier for other athletes to enter the investment space.

Drafted into the NFL in 2006 by the New Orleans Saints, Colston had a playing career that spanned more than 10 seasons and included securing a Super Bowl ring in 2010. He earned over $40 million throughout his time in the NFL, per Spotrac.

Colston’s NFL career ended in 2015 when he was released by the Saints due to injury, according to the team’s webpage.

Champion Venture Partners

Today, Colston is still involved with athletes but in a new light. He is the founding partner in Champion Venture Partners, alongside former professional mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete Nick Edwards. The North Dakota-based private equity firm, established in 2024, is making “growth alternative asset investments” accessible to all, according to the firm’s website.

“A lot of our team are former athletes, and what you see is there’s a really short time horizon on your athletic career where you have your earning potential,” Colston told Forbes in an interview. “Once you retire, whether you retire on your own volition or they kick you out and say you can’t play anymore, you’re kind of left bridging the gap between your playing career and when you can access your benefits, and it’s really hard to to find opportunities to make the same kind of money. What ultimately happens with a lot of guys and a lot of players is they go from accredited investors to non-accredited investors over time. They don’t meet the income thresholds, or they might not meet the net worth thresholds, and we wanted to build a vehicle that solves for that player.”

According to Champion Venture Partners’ website, its investments have supported organizations that make a meaningful impact in their communities, empower student-athletes, and advance healthcare research. To date, $100 million in equity has been raised, and the firm is in the process of deploying the funds across various sectors.

“Our thesis kind of makes room for the nuts-and-bolts type of companies to go along with the high-growth companies. So real estate we’re looking at, we’re looking at a tech company… And we’ve got another six or seven companies that are in the pipeline in due diligence right now that we are looking to deploy into,” Colston explained.