Serena Williams, Larry Fitzgerald And Kevin Durant Partner On New Digital Bank For Startups

Athletes from across the country are creating buzz in the investment world by headlining major startup ventures, and some of them have made successful bets like former Golden State Warrior teammates, Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala. Now, the latest company to draw the attention of athlete-investors is Mercury.

Mercury is a California-based startup that brands itself as a "bank for startups." The company received $20 million in funding last month from a group of investors led by Charles River Ventures (CRV). Notably, one of the athletes partaking in the latest round is Iguodala himself joined by Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. Current free agent Carmelo Anthony through Serena William's Serena Ventures are also a part of the Series A funding along with New York Jets' Kelvin Beachum.

Mercury offers FDIC insured bank accounts that startup owners can access within 24 hours. Their product also features cashflow analytics for companies to understand where they make and spend their money as well as dashboards and interfaces to manage payments. Their service can link to existing accounting software, making migration of data less of a hassle.

Andreessen Horowitz provided the $6 million in initial seed round back in January, but it's the head of the venture capital firm's Cultural Leadership Fund Chris Lyons that introduced prominent athletes to Mercury, including the Arizona Cardinal's Larry Fitzgerald.

"Initially I got to know the Mercury founders, and they are hard-working guys, and I liked what they were doing," Fitzgerald told Forbes.

"I come from a family of small businesses, and it is fascinating to me to see these companies at the infancy stage and being able to help them grow and be a part of them being able to grow and be valuable going forward."

It is indeed true that the number of athletes shaping up the startup scene remodels the investing landscape where companies can benefit from the financial resource as well as the fame of their sports icon investors.

"Being an athlete, we are in a unique position given our visibility to be able to connect with a number of the bigger players in the investment world and companies that would be looking to talk with you," Fitzgerald added.