276: Sponstar and the Rise of Fractional Sponsorship with Manu | Exclusive Interview
This week, we’ve got an exclusive interview with Manu, the founder and CEO of Sponstar, the fractional sponsorship marketplace that’s leveling the playing field for small and mid-sized brands to access high-profile sponsorship opportunities.
Manu’s entrepreneurial journey, from traditional finance to web3, led to the creation of Sponstar—a game-changing platform that bridges physical events and digital experiences while redefining the sponsorship ecosystem.
Manu shares her insights on fractional sponsorship, the intersection of blockchain, AI, and event marketing, and the unique challenges women founders face in the tech and crypto worlds. We also explore her guiding principles of spirituality, surrender, and how giving more strengthens a startup’s potential.
Manu previously co-founded Alpha’a and alphaa.io where she changed the way companies connect with their fans, using web3 to help enterprises connect people, content and experiences. She has been in the tech and collectibles sector for the past 10 years successfully raising funds from venture investors such as Metaprop, Lightspeed, Chingona Ventures, and Gaingels With a background in finance, Manu worked as an equity analyst at Gávea Investments, one of Brazil’s most reputable investment management firms.
Notably, Manu was named by Bloomberg in 2022 as one of the top 100 most influential Latinos and Latinas worldwide, one of the top 10 people to watch in Fintech in 2023, and one of the 33-Under-33 entrepreneurs in 2018 in New York City.
RESOURCES & LINKS:
Learn more about Sponstar
Follow Sponstar on X/(Twitter) @sponstar_io
Recommended Reading: The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
ABOUT THE HOST:
Pete Townsend is an early-stage startup investor focused on the intersection of fintech, crypto, and web3. He also leads the Techstars Web3 Accelerator. For more on Pete and how to get in touch, visit moneyneversleeps.ie.
SUPPORT THE SHOW:
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don’t forget to subscribe for future episodes of MoneyNeverSleeps. Until next time, stay curious and keep learning!
Email us: info@norioventures.com
Follow on X(Twitter):
-
Pete Townsend: https://twitter.com/petetownsendnv
-
MoneyNeverSleeps: https://twitter.com/MNSshow
Follow on LinkedIn:
-
Pete Townsend: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-townsend-1b18301a/
-
MoneyNeverSleeps: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28661903/
MoneyNeverSleeps newsletter: https://moneyneversleeps.substack.com/
Listen On
Recommended
Here are some great episodes to start with if you're new to the podcast!
280: 2025 Predictions with Alejandro Gutierrez
In this special year-end episode, Pete Townsend is joined by returning guest co-host Alejandro Gutierrez for a wide-ranging conversation about what the future may hold with their 2025 predictions. Together, they explore transformative ideas, emerging trends, and groundbreaking technologies that …
279: Mastering the Startup Game | Nigel Eccles | Insights from a Seri…
This week, I interviewed serial entrepreneur Nigel Eccles. Known for his role as co-founder and former CEO of FanDuel , Nigel shares his incredible journey of launching and scaling multiple ventures, including his latest proj...
278: Money Talks w/ Mai Santamaria | The Butterfly Defect & the Futur…
This week, I’m joined by the brilliant Mai Santamaria for a far-ranging discussion inspired by Ian Goldin’s concept of The Butterfly Defect — a thought-provoking take on the risks and interconnectedness of our global systems....
275: Web3 Fundraising Playbook | Pete Townsend | Raising Your 1st Rou…
We're diving deep into the fundamentals of fundraising for Web3 startups and early-stage ventures navigating their first capital raise. Fundraising is always challenging, but in web3, it’s a whole new frontier with unique hurdles. This session, originally presented at a …
270: The Stablecoin Revolution with Linda Jeng | Unpacking Castle Isl…
Linda Jeng is the Founder and CEO of Digital Self Labs, and she joins me in exploring the evolving landscape of stablecoins. Our discussion focuses on our key takeaways from Castle Island Ventures' latest stablecoin report, '...
257: How I Got To Techstars on a Flywheel | Hesus Inoma Interviews Pe…
This week, I’m sharing an episode of the ‘Venture with Hesus’ podcast that I recorded in late 2023 with the unstoppable Hesus Inoma, as he interviews me on lessons learned from being part of the startup ecosystem the last 8 …
249: Bridging the Gap | Connor Murphy | One Problem, Two Ventures and…
This week’s guest is Connor Murphy, the CEO of Bridge. I met Connor at a Techstars event in Dublin in 2019 as he was just getting his latest venture off the ground in Bridge, and I started using the Bridge …
248: Venture Investing and Connecting the Dots
We've remastered and packaged up two of our most popular episodes from 2023 that were originally going to be one episode looking at the venture capital mantra of ‘investing in lines and not dots’ with VC investing insights from Patrick …
166: Joey Krug | Pantera Capital, Being Early in Crypto and Shipping …
Joey Krug is the Co-Chief Investment Officer of Pantera Capital, the first institutional investment firm focused exclusively on bitcoin, other digital currencies, and companies in the blockchain tech ecosystem. Joey joins Pete Townsend on this episode originally recorded as part …
207: What Makes a Great Web3 Team
In this special segment, we’re featuring web3 investors, founders and mentors such as Joey Krug from Pantera Capital, Matthew Graham from Sino Global Capital, Teana Baker-Taylor from Circle, Sam Williams from Arweave, John Wu from Ava Labs, Clarisse Hagege from …
054: Startup Insights #1: Hard Decisions
The MoneyNeverSleeps crew picked out six founders from past episodes talking about the hard decisions they've made along the way, including taking the leap, operating without a playbook, building teams, penetrating new markets, and finding your way home from the …
205: Memory Lane | Sam Williams and Arweave
Sam Williams is co-founder and CEO of Arweave, a blockchain protocol allowing us to remember and preserve valuable information, apps, and history indefinitely. In this episode, Sam shares the inspirational story of how Arweave got started, their life-changing experience with …
067: Startup Insights #2: The Unexpected
In this special segment, we feature four founders sharing how they dealt with one thing they didn't expect to face as a founder - Martin Brown from Unitek, Lizzy Hayashida from Change Donations, Andrew Mullaney from Premind and Paul Smyth …