Good day Pro Private Equity readers. The sports world has attracted an increasing amount of capital and attention from both private-equity and venture-capital investors in recent years, lured by the stable cash flows sports franchises generate, the lucrative media rights associated with them and growth in revenue streams created by technological innovation across the industry. Just last week, Ares Management announced a fresh $3.7 billion pool of money for sports-related deals. This morning, another firm has planted its stake in the ground. Velocity Capital Management, a firm co-founded by David Abrams and Arne Rees, announced its official launch with its first deal closed and capital commitments from a number of investors, as I report this morning. Meanwhile, our colleague Dov Lieber has news of a new fund pitched by OurCrowd that aims to address healthcare inequity around the globe.

Read on for more on these and other stories…

Veteran sports investors David Abrams and Arne Rees have launched a new firm focused on investments in companies in the sports and entertainment industries. As Laura Kreutzer reports for WSJ Pro Private Equity, the new firm Velocity Capital Management has already rounded up commitments from a group of institutional investors and has backed its first deal with two more on the way.

Israeli venture-capital firm OurCrowd is aiming to raise a $200 million fund in partnership with an affiliate of the World Health Organization that would invest in companies that address global healthcare inequality, Dov Lieber reports for WSJ Pro Venture Capital. The collaboration, announced Monday at a Clinton Global Initiative event in New York alongside the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, is the latest iteration of organizations collaborating with venture capital to further their goals.

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BRV Capital Management and other investors have contributed to a $100 million funding round for Swiftly Systems Inc., boosting the valuation of the grocery-tech company to more than $1 billion, Corrie Driebusch writes for The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The capital infusion is the second funding round this year for Swiftly and values it at $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion, one of the people said. In March, Swiftly said it raised $100 million in a Series B funding round led by Wormhole Capital.

Consumer-focused TSG Consumer Partners and Dallas-based private investment firm Leon Capital Group have backed a partnership with Specialty Dental Brands, a multi-specialty dental support organization that serves more than 211 practices across 20 states, according to a press release.

Nonantum Capital Partners, a midmarket firm launched in 2018 by former executives from Charlesbank Capital Partners, has acquired non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services provider LJP Waste Solutions from fellow private-equity firm Aperion Management, a news release indicates.

A group of investors that includes Logos Capital, Alta Partners, Frazier Life Sciences, New Enterprise Associates, RTW Investments, Vivo Capital and other firms, have agreed to purchase more than 29.8 million shares of common stock of publicly traded biotechnology company Allakos Inc., according to a press release. The company expects to receive $150 million in total gross proceeds from the deal which is slated to close on or around Sept. 21, the release stated. Allakos develops antibody compounds used in the treatment of allergic and inflammatory diseases.

Bregal Sagemount has backed a minority investment in SOLO LLC, a Lehi, Utah-based software provider focused on the solar energy industry, according to a press release.

Our add-on deal interactive tool allows you to sort and analyze volumes of add-on deal data compiled by WSJ Pro. View more.

EQT’s private-equity unit has sold its stake in global packaging-services company GPA Global to Canadian pension manager Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board, according to a press release. EQT Private Equity initially backed the company in 2017 out of its EQT Mid Market Asia III fund, a $737 million fund closed in 2018.

Oxford Industries Inc. said Monday it completed the acquisition of private-equity backed clothing brand Johnny Was for $270 million, Dow Jones Newswires’ Denny Jacob writes. The apparel company behind brands such as Tommy Bahama and Southern Tide said the transaction for the brand was financed primarily by cash on hand, with the remaining $100 million funded with borrowings from its revolving credit facility. Oxford said it expects to pay all borrowings within one year of the transaction. Endeavour Capital initially backed Johnny Was in 2015, according to the firm’s website.

Neuberger Berman has raised $4.9 billion for NB Secondary Opportunities Fund V LP, the firm’s latest global secondary fund, according to a press release. The fund’s final tally exceeded both a $3 billion target and the $2.5 billion that the firm raised for its previous secondary fund in 2017.

Healthcare focused investment firm Concord Health Partners has raised $150 million for Concord Innovation Fund II LP, according to a news release. So far the firm has deployed more than 50% of the growth fund’s committed capital across six portfolio companies, including healthcare software companies Clarify Health Solutions and Loyal Health Inc., telehealth platform Iris Telehealth Inc., surgical implants and robotics technology company Integrity Implants Inc., which does business as Accelus, and MindMaze Inc., which produces technology used to treat patients with neurological disease.

Law firm Latham & Watkins LLP is hiring Michele Anderson, a veteran attorney from the Securities and Exchange Commission as a partner in the firm’s Washington office, according to an emailed press release. Ms. Anderson, who will join the firm in mid-October, served for 24 years in progressively senior positions in the agency’s corporate finance division, including nearly 15 years leading its office of mergers and acquisitions, the release stated. She will serve on Latham & Watkins’ national office team, which serves as a resource for complicated securities law questions, the release stated.

Real assets firm Vision Ridge Partners has hired Christina Scalzo as a principal responsible for sourcing and executing investments in transportation, agriculture and energy, according to an emailed press release. Ms. Scalzo joins the firm from retail electricity and power generation company Vistra Corp., where she was a vice president responsible for all mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestitures and venture-capital investments, the release said.

Latin America-focused firm Patria Investments said in a news release that Ana Russo will join the firm as its incoming chief financial officer on Oct. 3  and will assume the role from the current CFO Marco Nicola D’Ippolito on Jan. 1, 2023. Ms. Russo has held a range of finance roles, including Brazil CFO for Philip Morris International, according to a press release.  Mr. D’Ippolito will assume the role of chief corporate development officer, to focus on growth strategies for the firm, the release stated.

Resource Capital Funds has landed a $14 million commitment from Australia’s Clean Energy Finance Corp for its RCF Jolimont Mining Innovation Fund II, according to a press release. The fund targets investments in mining equipment, technology and services companies, focusing on clean-energy technologies and decarbonization solutions.

French secondary specialist Bex Capital promoted Thomas Carbonel and Alexis Ferrer to senior partners at the firm, both newly-created positions. The firm also said it added one vice president and three associates to its investment team over the summer.

Real assets firm Harrison Street said it has added three people to its investor-relations team. Anthony Potenza, who previously was vice president and client executive for LaSalle Investment Management, and Paul Marchese, who worked as a vice president with Marquette Associates, have joined as directors on the team, according to a press release. Chris Brown, who served as director of capital raising and investor relatios at Cityview, has joined as a vice president.

B. Riley Financial Inc.’s wealth management division B. Riley Wealth hired Jay Murphy as a senior managing director of investments. Mr. Murphy, who is based in the firm’s Boston office, focuses on high and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and family offices, according to the firm.

Instacart Inc. doesn’t plan to raise much capital in its initial public offering and instead plans to have most of the listing come from the sale of employees’ shares, Berber Jin and Corrie Driebusch report for the Journal, citing people familiar with the company’s thinking. In meetings with prospective investors in recent weeks, Instacart executives said they didn’t plan to issue many new shares in their IPO, the people said. The sale of mostly employee shares would allow Instacart’s staff, including some of its earliest hires, to at last cash out of some of the shares they have been accumulating.

Dozens of small drillers helped fuel a resurgence in the busiest U.S. oil patch over the past two years. But as Collin Eaton and Benoît Morenne write for The Wall Street Journal, they tapped many of their best drilling spots, and will have to ease their rapid pace of drilling as their inventory shrinks, analysts and executives say. Private oil companies in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico emerged from the pandemic-induced oil downturn last year as a growth engine for U.S. shale, now running almost half of the working drilling rigs there, up from a quarter before the pandemic.

VC Include Inc., a social venture project that aims to expand investment opportunities for historically underrepresented emerging managers, including women and people of color, named 12 private-equity and venture-capital firms as the latest cohort of its annual BIPOC First-Time Fund Manager fellowship. The fellowship, which provides a two-month education and mentoring program, is supported by organizations that include Visa Foundation, Skoll Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, among others, according to a press release.

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