Data entry – Functional soundscapes – Automated sports highlights – Health metaverse – Women betting on women – Connected pilates – Move-to-earn augmented reality – Functional chocolate bars
Week 42
Skin In The Game is a weekly newsletter dedicated to investing in sports & health startups. We highlight the founders and investors shaping the future of sports and its adjacent markets.
We also run a regulated angel syndicate that connects investors with founders and industry experts across emerging sports & health technologies like the Metaverse, Web3, AI, and Psychedelics.
Join our community
We run membership clubs for founders and investors in sports & health:
– Founder’s Club – £49/month gives founders access to help with fundraising, strategy and growth via our newsletter, investor database, private LinkedIn group, and events.
– Investor’s Club – £99/month gives investors access to proprietary deal flow and co-investors via our newsletter, investor database, private LinkedIn group, and events. Investors also get 1 hour of our time per month to bounce ideas and solve problems.
Confessions
It’s been a full-on couple of weeks as Scott and I put the finishing touches to our subscription offering for investors and founders. We are almost ready to launch in beta. Turns out that migrating thousands of unstructured data points from the newsletter to a database takes time. Lots of time. You’ve gotta love data entry…
It may be the infamous Reality Distortion Field talking, but we’re convinced that long hours chained to our laptops, tanked up on coffee and house music, will be worth it. Zoolander-esque, we excited to finally unveil our version of Blue Steel – a living Notion database overflowing with thousands of active investors in sports & health, hundreds of deals, and other qualitative insights.
In the meantime, you can sign up early and get some seriously special treatment (and sincere gratitude from two over caffeinated co-founders).
Yesterday I attended a Leaders Think Tank events at BT Sports’ studios in Stratford. I’m not ashamed to say I felt out of my depth, but David and James from Leaders made me feel really welcome, and it gave me a chance to thank them for featuring Skin In The Game in their excellent Leaders Digest newsletter. I wondered what was going on when shedloads of impressive people signed up to our newsletter over a glorious 24 hour period!
The think tank format was unusual and interesting – we were split into groups and tasked with solving difficult problems / identifying opportunities, leveraging the collective intelligence of the group. Interacting with the guys on our table (senior sports media execs) I felt massively ignorant about the economics and operational logistics of 21st Century broadcast media, but hopefully being the lone startup guy enabled me to bring something fresh to the group. Basically, I banged on about newsletters, podcasting, and other cheap-but-effective storytelling channels.
In a limited sense, this event was a physical manifestation of what we’re building with Skin In The Game. The experience provided further validation of our thesis that sports industry leaders can materially de-risk startup investments in sports & health. It got me very excited about the prospect of ramping up our expert network – more on this in the coming weeks.
Deal Flow
This week we have 40 sports & health deals across Wearables, Health & Wellness, Web3, Esports & Metaverse, Sports Betting, Fitness, Apparel & Merch, Psychedelics, Nutrition, Youth Sports, Funds & Accelerators, Fertility, Media, Data, and Sports Venues.
For access to our soon-to-be-launched database with hundreds of sports & health deals and investors active in recent months, consider joining our community.
Wearables
💍 Oura Raises Capital at $2.55B Valuation – On the heels of surpassing 1m Oura rings sold, the smartring maker raised capital at a $2.55B valuation. Lifeline Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, and MSD Capital have all participated in the company’s funding rounds.
Health & Wellness
🔊 Endel rings out a $15M funding round for their functional soundscapes – Endel has closed a $15m Series B funding round led by Waverley Capital and True Ventures.
🇮🇱 Sency raises – Sency, a company building computer vision-based products to help people live healthier and move better, closed a $6.5m raise. The round was led by the American Hybrid Financial, and was also attended by Voltech Ventures and the Shastowitz family.
🇵🇱 Warsaw-based Mindgram secures €7m for its app for employee mental wellness and plans European expansion – Providing integrated support for employees, Mindgram has just closed a €7m seed round. The funding was led by Credo Ventures with participation from PortfoLion, Nunatak Capital, Market One Capital and Pamoja Capital, as well as angel investors.
🧠 Eleanor Health Raises $50m to Combat Historic Mental Health Crisis – The financing was led by General Catalyst, with participation from existing investors including Warburg Pincus and Town Hall Ventures, as well as Northpond Ventures and Rethink Impact.
👩💼 Equilibria makes acquisition – Modern wellness company Equilibria acquired Fleur Marché to double down on demystifying wellness for women from 18-80.
📱 Mental Health App Real Secures $37M – Mental health app Real raised $37M in a Series B round led by Owl Ventures.
💼 Workplace mental health startup Oliva raises £4.84m – Personalised workplace mental health startup Oliva has raised £4.84m in a seed round. The London-based startup provides bespoke support to employees for dealing with work-related mental health problems, from burnout to low self-esteem to anxiety.
👩⚕️ Janani raises $2.2 Mn from Y Combinator and others – Healthcare startup Janani.life has raised $2.2m in growth capital from a group of investors including Y Combinator (YC), Olive Tree Capital, and Good Water Capital. Soma Capital, Brightlane VC, NB Ventures along with some prominent angel investors like D S Brar, Chairman GVK life science and former President of Ranbaxy, and Avendus Capital’s founder Gaurav Deepak, also backed Janani.
💻 Brightside Health Raises $50m in Series B Funding to Accelerate Delivery of Life-changing Mental Health Care For All – Brightside Health, a telemedicine platform that offers fast access to personalised treatment for a range of mental health concerns, raised $50m in Series B. This round was led by ACME Capital and Mousse Partners, with participation from existing investors Bullpen Capital, Triventures, and Trousdale Ventures.
👩💼 SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, Gwyneth Paltrow back menopause telehealth startup Evernow’s $28.5m funding round – Alongside the celebrity lineup, Evernow's Series A backers include NEA, 8VC, Refactor Capital, and Coelius Capital. Other angel investors are longtime Morgan Stanley exec Carla Harris and Care.com founder Sheila Lirio Marcelo, who helped attract the group of high-profile angels.
Web3
🇬🇧 Crawley acquired by US investors pledging to run club using Web 3.0 technology – Crawley Town have been taken over by a group of US investors who are promising to use Web 3.0 technologies to empower the English fourth-tier soccer club’s fanbase to make key decisions.
Esports & Metaverse
🎮 Novos, a training platform for gamers, raises $6M in funding – Novos, a startup building a training platform for gamers, raised $6m in funding. MizMaa Ventures led the round, with participation from Remagine Ventures, Gal Ventures, Kaedan Capital, and others.
🇮🇳 BITKRAFT Ventures receives $2.5m investment from Nazara – Gaming and esports venture capital fund BITKRAFT Ventures has received a $2.5m investment from India-based gaming and sports media company Nazara.
⚾️ EQL Games secures $2M in fresh capital – EQL Games’ MLB product, Baseball Bucks, allows lottery players to purchase tickets based on multiple live MLB games happening that day.
🌌 Healthtech Startup GOQii Raises $10m To Launch Its Health Metaverse – Fitness technology startup GOQii has raised $10M in an extended Series C equity round from Animoca Brands to launch its health metaverse. The round saw participation from investors including Sumeru Ventures, Modality (Digality), 9 Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, among others.
Sports betting
🎲 P2P sports betting startup Lucra raises $10M in funding round led by Raptor Group – The Series A was led by alternative investment firm Raptor Group, which is founded by James Pallotta, businessman and former chairman of Italian football club A.S. Roma.
💁♀️ Sports betting startup Gaming Society just raised funding in a bid to get more women to bet – on women – Gaming Society is not the only sports betting player that sees opportunity in women’s sports, and women bettors.
Fitness
🤩 HighPost Capital Acquires Chris Hemsworth’s Centr and Inspire Fitness to Create Leading Personal Fitness, Nutrition and Wellness Platform – HighPost Capital announced the acquisitions of Centr, a personalised digital health and fitness platform curated by Chris Hemsworth, and Inspire Fitness, a leader in state-of-the-art fitness equipment.
🇺🇸 Connected Reformer Flexia Raises $4M as Pilates Takes Off – Flexia secured $4M in a seed round led by ADvantage, with participation from Phoenix Capital Ventures, Techstars, and Calm Ventures.
🇬🇧 Fiit crowdfunds – Digital fitness platform Fiit raised £1.02M via crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to build hybrid fitness studios and develop connected fitness equipment with partner Assault Fitness.
🇺🇸 Move-to-Earn Developer DEFY Labs Lands $3.5M – DEFY Labs, makers of move-to-earn augmented reality game DEFY, added $3.5M in a seed round led by Animoca Brands, OliveX, and Spartan Group. Combining crypto, exercise, and gamification, DEFY joins a wave of activity in pay-for-fitness.
Apparel & Merch
🏈 NFL pumps $320m into Fanatics – The NFL has upped its investment in Fanatics, injecting a further $320m into the licensed sports merchandise giant.
Psychedelics
🍄 Major new fundraise positions MycoTechnology to take its mushroom mycelia platform onto the global stage – The Series E was led by a group affiliated with the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), a SWF and first-time investor in the business. There were several new investors, including Nourish Ventures (Griffith Foods' venture capital group), Rage Capital, Alphacy Investment, and Siddhi Capital. Also contributing were returning investors S2G Ventures, Tyson Ventures, Continental Grain Company, Bunge Ventures, Maple Leaf Foods, Evolution VC Partners, and Gaingels.
🇺🇸 Homecoming Closes $4m Seed Funding Round To Scale Psychedelic Therapy Companion Tools – Homecoming, the creator of industry-leading patient engagement tools for psychedelic therapy, has closed an over-subscribed $4m seed funding round. Investors in the seed round included Evolve Ventures and Integrated, who led the round, along with SV Angel, Bridge Builders Collaborative, Amanda Feilding, Lionheart Ventures, Ocama LP, JLS Fund, Michael Cotton, Seth Feuerstein, Talia Eisenberg, Jesse Hudson, and David Fraga.
Nutrition
🚲 Season Health scores $34M for meal planning, food delivery service – Nutrition startup Season Health raised $34m in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other participants in the round include LRV Health, Company Ventures, new Cityblock Health CEO Toyin Ajayi and more angel investors.
🍇 Season Health raises $34m in Series A funding – The Series A round was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors include LRV Health and Company Ventures. Season, which launched earlier this year, works with health systems to connect patients with foods that will improve their condition.
🍫 Functional chocolate bar maker Mid-Day Squares raises $10m USD Led By Siddhi Capital – Other investors included BFG Partners, Selva Ventures, Harlo Entertainment, David Cynamon, Mike Fata, Elly Truesdell, Peter Burns, Clayton Christopher, David Meltzer, Bobby Parish, Alexandre Guertin, Dylan Barbour, Frank Saltarelli, Casey Karls, Gurdeep Prewal, Noah Brennan & many more.
Youth Sports
🇺🇸 Andre Iguodala-Backed Players Health Buys Life Benefits to Grow Youth Sports Insurance Plans – Players Health, a youth sports safety startup funded by NBA veteran Andre Iguodala, has acquired Dallas-based health insurance brokerage firm Life Benefits.
💵 Sports Video Tech Company Trace Raises $47m Series C Round, Valued At $190M – Trace, a sports video technology company focused on making personalised highlights of youth athletes, has raised $47m in a Series C round. Pelion Venture Partners, a Salt Lake City, Utah, venture capital firm, led the Series C funding.
Funds & Accelerators
🇺🇸 Sixers innovation lab launching new $25m VC fund – Early-stage VC fund Sixers Innovation Lab is starting a second fund to invest primarily in business-to-business startups working in sports, media and consumer packaged goods. The new fund will have $25m in assets, and include funding from investors besides Harris Blitzer.
🤑 Arctos Sports Partners’ Assets Balloon to More Than $3.9B – The fund is a limited partner in six MLB teams, controls large minority stakes in two NBA squads, a couple of NHL franchises, soccer club Real Salt Lake and part of Elevate Sports Partners.
Fertility
👩💻 Evernow Raises $28.5M in Series A Funding to Redefine Menopause Treatment – Evernow, a telehealth company dedicated to using science to transform care for women in perimenopause and menopause, closed $28.5M in Series A funding led by global venture capital firm NEA with participation from 8VC, Refactor Capital, Coelius Capital, and other institutional investors as well as notable angel investors Gwyneth Paltrow, Carla Harris, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Othman Laraki, and others.
👩⚖️ Conceive closes round – Fertility platform Conceive raised $3.7M led by Kindred Ventures and with participation from Founder Collective, Great Oaks, and 40+ founders and angels to transform fertility. The cap table includes the founders of Natalist, Tia, Forward, Cityblock, Pillpack, Dia&Co, along with the deep expertise from Inception Fertility, Spring Fertility, Overture, and many more.
Media
🇦🇪 Footballco acquires Kooora in $25m deal – Digital soccer media company Footballco has bought Dubai-based platform Kooora, in a mid-eight-figure all-cash deal. The acquisition is reportedly worth more than $25m.
🇺🇸 Tagboard's Funding Rises to $10.3M for Its Interactive Broadcasting Software – Interactive sports broadcast producer Tagboard has raised $2.3m to increase its Series A investment to $10.3m. New investors in Tagboard include West River Group, Spivy Private Capital and Sports Loft.
📹 Automated Sports Highlights Producer VideoVerse Raises $46.8M – Toch.ai, an AI video editing platform with a focus on sports broadcasting, has rebranded as VideoVerse and closed $46.8m in Series B funding. The investment was led by A91 Partners and Alpha Wave Global and will support VideoVerse‘s global expansion plans.
Data
👩💻 Elevate-Recentive Venture Aims at Sports-Specific Software Market – Elevate Sports Ventures has entered a joint venture with Recentive Analytics. At the heart of the deal is Precast, a subscription tool used by teams and other sports properties to predict fan consumption behaviour.
🤖 Sportradar acquires Vaix, a pioneer in developing AI solutions – Vaix’s innovative AI technology allows betting and gaming operators to gain a personalized view of their customers.
Sports Venues
🏟 OnePlan gets $5.3m funding boost to build out digital venue tech – Technology company OnePlan has raised an additional $5.3m in funding from its Series A investors, Pembroke VCT and Eppes Creek Ventures.
Some tweets
“Give Bielsa my Barcelona and see how much he wins. Give me his Leeds side and we would be in the Championship.” As everyone’s favourite leadership guru Jim Collins has observed, the greatest leaders in business (and sports) possess a powerful mixture of personal humility and indomitable will. Pep Guardiola is one such leader.
Yours in sports,
Ed
—
Ed Rhys
Co-Founder / Skin In The Game
www.skininthegamegroup.com
Join our community
If you find this free newsletter useful, consider joining our subscription community. We run membership clubs for founders and investors in sports & health:
– Founder’s Club – £49/month gives founders access to help with fundraising, strategy and growth via our newsletter, investor database, private LinkedIn group, and events.
– Investor’s Club – £99/month gives investors access to proprietary deal flow and co-investors via our newsletter, investor database, private LinkedIn group, and events. Investors also get 1 hour of our time per month to bounce ideas and solve problems.
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