Serena Williams Joins as EIR to Mentor Early-Stage Founders

More than a decade after launching Serena Ventures without a mentor of her own, Serena Williams is stepping in to guide the next wave of entrepreneurs.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has joined Reckitt Catalyst—the British hygiene company’s social-impact investment program—as an entrepreneur-in-residence, mentoring U.S.-based founders building health and hygiene solutions.

The role aligns with Reckitt’s goal to extend health and hygiene access to 5 million people by 2030, and with Williams’ mission to give early-stage founders the support she once lacked. “In hindsight, I feel like I should have had more mentors,” Williams told Business Insider. While she values lessons learned firsthand, she now asks: “Why learn them when you can learn them from someone else?”

Since retiring from tennis, Williams has leaned fully into venture capital. Serena Ventures manages a $111 million fund and has backed multiple unicorns, experience that informs her counsel to founders: solve a real problem and show authentic conviction.

“The founder can be amazing and smart and super likable, but if it’s not needed in the market, then it doesn’t fit,” she said. Startups led by people with a genuine connection to the product, she added, “tend to do better.”

Williams also emphasizes relationships as a growth strategy. Mentorship, she notes, is “about connections and unlocking how to get people to know about your product.” As she begins work with Reckitt-backed startups, Williams says she’s still learning every day: “I loved school, and I feel like I’m in school all day.”