All athletes must face the reality that their sports career will one day come to an end, forcing them to start a new chapter in life. Some will reach this transition sooner than others, but eventually, every athlete will need to move on, starting a new career or vocation.

Serena Jameka Williams - a name synonymous with tennis excellence, arguably the greatest female tennis player of all time, Serena Williams has won the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era and is the only player to win all four Grand Slams in singles and doubles.

She is an astute venture capital investor: with her firm Serena Ventures, has been investing in startups for over a decade, focusing on empowering women and people of colour in the entrepreneurial world.

Serena Ventures, has raised over $150m and invested in more than 140 start-ups as ANGEL & Fund I investments.

Among the companies in its portfolio is Zigazoo, one of the World’s Largest social media networks for kids, with more than 5 million users. 

The Zigazoo is centered around kids recording videos of themselves completing a variety of “challenges” that range from creating a baking soda volcano to making fractions out of food, and targets kids from preschool to middle school. Those videos are then posted to the app and can be tagged and shared with friends. 

She is a cofounder of Will Perform, a startup that launched in late 2022 to create products for topical pain relief and muscle and skin care.

Also has her own multimedia production company, Nine Two Six Productions.

Some of Serena Ventures investments has reached unicorn status, meaning they have achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more. Some of these notable investments include:

MasterClass: An online education platform featuring expert-led classes.

Impossible Foods: A plant-based meat alternative company.

Noom: A subscription-based app for tracking nutrition and exercise.

Wave: A $1.7 billion fintech company bringing mobile payments to Africa.

Tennis ace Serena Williams hung up her racket in 2022, ending a lucrative career in tennis court that has earned her over $100 million in prize money.

Williams still has endorsement deals with more than a dozen brands.

Her first children's book was released in 2022. 

She also owns a minority stake in the Miami Dolphins, 1st African-American minority owners in NFL history.

"Luck has nothing to do with it, I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come."