Colin Kapernick is aiming to topple major barriers with his new startup, and major investors are backing his mission.
The former NFL player and social justice advocate raised $4 million in funding for his subscription-based platform Lumi, led by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six per a report from TIME.
“The majority of the world’s stories never come to life. Most people don’t have access or inroads to publishers or platforms—or they may have a gap in their skillset that’s a barrier for them to be able to create,” he told the outlet. “We’re going to see a whole new world of stories and perspectives.”
Lumi is described as a platform that provides what storytellers need to create, illustrate, publish and monetize their ideas.
Kaepernick told the outlet that the company was birthed during his time away from playing in the league and subsequently building his media company, Ra Vision Media, and his publishing company, Kaepernick Publishing.
Kapernick shared with TIME that he was motivated to launch Lumi after facing significant challenges scaling his company including “long production timelines, high costs, and creators not having ownership over the work they create.” Following in the vein of AI-forward platforms like OpenAI and ChatGPT Kaepernick leaned into the space, and even dabbled with them to create a children’s book.
“The majority of the world’s stories never come to life. Most people don’t have access or inroads to publishers or platforms—or they may have a gap in their skillset that’s a barrier for them to be able to create,” Kapernick told TIME. “We’re going to see a whole new world of stories and perspectives.”
