Cordillera Investment Partners Announces $10 Million Investment in Professional Triathletes Organisation

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cordillera Investment Partners, L.P. (“Cordillera”), an investment management firm that exclusively invests in niche, non-correlated assets, today announced a $10 million investment in the Professional Triathletes Organisation (“PTO”), a global sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes. The capital will be used to support PTO’s growth initiatives.

The PTO transaction supports the firm’s founding thesis for identifying assets that are under the radar to the institutional investment world but demonstrate compelling growth and return potential. Within sports, Cordillera sees opportunities in emerging leagues and formats, women’s sports, sports-related professional services businesses, and professional teams in lower tiers of competition. Since 2014, Cordillera has made investments into sports media rights, whiskey, boat marinas, carbon credits, and other niche sectors.

“For over 10 years, it has been our mission to find the “nooks and crannies” within overlooked sectors of the global economy,” said Agustin “Gus” Araya, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Cordillera. “Sports is an industry we have had a thesis on for some time, and PTO is a prime example of an emerging league in a corner of the sports universe that is growing in popularity and fandom. We are thrilled to support Sam and the professional triathletes on their next phase of growth.”

The founding investor in the PTO was Sir Michael Moritz in 2020. Other investors who have joined Sir Michael and the professional athletes in creating the new T100 Triathlon World Tour to professionalize the sport and take it into the mainstream, include: Divergent Investments, an innovative private equity fund; Warner Bros. Discovery, a leading global media and entertainment company; and health-focused venture fund, Eckuity when the PTO announced a Series B round in December 2022.

Sam Renouf, CEO of PTO, commented, “Professional triathletes have seen the rise of our sport but the growth at the pro end hasn't necessarily tracked the participation growth. Football, the NFL, and tennis have been multibillion-dollar sports for a long time. Triathlon has really been in the dark ages from a commercial and broadcast perspective, and that’s why the PTO was formed. We are thrilled to have Cordillera’s support as we continue to grow our sport.”

In 2024, the PTO launched the T100 Triathlon World Tour, which featured the world’s top 20 female and top 20 male triathletes, along with amateur competitors, to compete head-to-head on a live global broadcast feed in a series of events in major cities including Singapore, San Francisco, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas, and Dubai.

“Triathlon appeals to the executive and the professional class – which is a very attractive group to market to,” added Renouf. “The whole point of the PTO is that although you have this incredibly valuable market that is global, it is completely fragmented by the lack of a media product and season-long narrative to showcase our amazing athletes.”

In 2025, the new T100 Triathlon World Tour will grow from seven to nine races, including a return to Singapore on 5-6 April, then San Francisco (31 May-1 June), Vancouver (13-15 June), France (27-29 June), London (9-10 August), Valencia (20 September), Lake Las Vegas, Dubai (15-16 November), and Qatar (12-13 December) for the new Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.

About Cordillera Investment Partners

Cordillera Investment Partners is an investment management firm focused on investing in niche, non-correlated assets. Its investments are generally in sectors that are misunderstood, undercapitalized and uncorrelated with traditional assets. Cordillera manages over $1.6 billion of capital on behalf of endowments, foundations, family offices, wealth advisors and other institutional investors. For more information on Cordillera, please visit www.cordillera-ip.com.

About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and T100 Triathlon World Tour

The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. Its T100 Triathlon World Tour was introduced in January 2024 and is designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’, which is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport’s international governing body. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a season-long schedule of World Championship level races competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run), where the world’s best triathletes go head-to-head in iconic locations on a global broadcast showing the races live around the world in 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO’s partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters. In 2025 these will include: Singapore, San Francisco, Vancouver, France, London, Valencia, Lake Las Vegas, Dubai and then Qatar for the Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final.

T100 weekends are ‘festivals of multisport’ and feature a range of opportunities for amateur athletes of all levels to get involved. From experienced amateurs tackling the 100km distance to first-time swim, bike and run participants taking on single discipline, untimed events. For more information visit www.t100triathlon.com.