Creative Artists Agency has bolstered the leadership in Connect Ventures after expanding into the venture capital world in 2020 via a joint venture with New Enterprise Associates.
Veteran investor Nicole Quinn and former CAA executive Michael Blank have joined to lead Connect Ventures as managing partners. Connect Ventures as an investment vehicle identifies and accelerates the growth of early-stage, consumer-focused businesses in the media and entertainment, sports, gaming, health and wellness and e-commerce spaces.
In addition, CAA’s Adam Friedman has been named as a venture partner at Connect Ventures, serving as the day-to-day lead for the Hollywood talent and sports representation agency. NEA remains a partner in the new-look Connect Ventures, as is CAA, as their origional investment partnership relaunches as a brand new venture capital firm.
“We believe Connect’s platform gives us a unique advantage to add significant value to generational change companies. CAA unlocks cultural reach and insights, and NEA provides us with institutional best practices as we aim to help our companies achieve breakout velocity,” said Quinn and Blank in a joint statement on Monday.
Connect Ventures has looked to leverage CAA’s global relationships and expertise in the entertainment and sports landscape and has made investments in consumer categories like TMRW Sports, OpenSea, Slash, and Jomboy Media, among others.
“We are so fortunate to partner with Nicole and Mike to launch Connect Ventures and thrilled that our partnership with NEA is taking this exciting next step. Nicole’s exceptional investment insight will be instrumental in driving the success of the firm and complements Mike’s deep experience as he transitions from his role at CAA, where he oversaw CAA’s involvement in Connect Ventures since the beginning, to this new leadership position full-time,” Jim Burtson, president, CAA and board member, Connect Ventures, said in his own statement.
Quinn joins Connect Ventures after 10 years with Lightspeed Venture Partners, and before that she was at Morgan Stanley and covered the retail and internet spaces. Blank left CAA in October 2025 after 15 years with the Hollywood agency, most recently as head of consumer investments.
Friedman joined CAA in 2012 and has been key to the investment partnership with NEA.
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