Rich man from Louisiana bets on Gulf South

Gail Benson, Louisiana's richest man and owner of the Saints and Pelicans teams, is betting big on his home state venture capital style. Billionaire Gale Benson, owner of the NFL team New Orleans Saints and the NBA team New Orleans Pelicans, talks about his venture capital firm and its new investments in biotechnology.

Gail Benson, one of the richest women in America, is known primarily as the owner of the NFL team New Orleans Saints and the NBA team New Orleans Pelicans. Louisiana's richest person, she inherited sports teams and at least ten other businesses from her late husband Tom Benson (d. 2018). She currently spends most of her time overseeing the teams' operations,''attending every Pelicans home game and flying across the country to attend every Saints game.

Reflecting as a venture capitalist

But Benson dreams bigger. "People think what I do now is glamorous, but there's nothing glamorous about going to 42 Pelicans games and 18 Saints games," she asserts. So she's reinventing herself as a venture capitalist by betting on her home state and, in particular, the South Coast, which includes the five states bordering the Gulf of Mexico (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida).

Foundation of Benson Capital Partners

Benson founded the venture capital firm Benson Capital Partners (BCP) in New''Orleans in 2019; so far, it has already raised more than $125 million from twenty unnamed high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors, including $20 million of Benson's own money. The firm has two funds, both focused on investing in local projects, a desire of Benson, who was born and raised in New Orleans and has the resources and connections to execute this strategy. The first fund, at $57 million, closed in 2020 and focuses on technology and health care, while the second fund, at $69 million, closed in January 2021 and focuses on real estate.

Investing in biotechnology

BCP's first investment in 2021 was a participation in a biotech''s New Orleans-based startup company AxoSim, which creates laboratory cells that mimic human organs in order to speed up and cheapen drug development, especially for neurodegenerative diseases. AxoSim, which is in the process of raising money for a third round of funding, announced Tuesday that it has acquired the assets of Vyant Bio, a publicly traded biotech company that withdrew from the Nasdaq related to the creation of human organoids, for $2.25 million.

The development of venture capital in the region

BCP is one of the few venture capital firms on the South Coast, and they hope to expand to other states in the region. The firm currently has investments primarily in Louisiana, as well as Alabama, Texas and Florida, but''hopes to expand to Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas and South Carolina soon.

While sports teams have average performance, it's too early to tell if the venture capital firm's strategy will bring success, BCP's fund is currently "slightly on the upside." Overall, Benson and her firm are focused on creating new opportunities and investing in local projects to continue to grow the region and retain top talent.