Total Addressable BS – Smart basketball – Psychedelic Water – Virtual stadia – VR hockey training – Future of pregnancy health – Major League Cricket – Student safety and wellness
Week 46
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Confessions
This week I heard someone diss the size of the market for fitness and wellness. It got me thinking about market sizing and how slippery this concept is.
I initially dismissed the idea of an investment business focused on sports and health. It seemed too focused, too small, too limited in comparison with fintech, e-commerce and the other big beasts of the technology world. So I put the idea on hold for a while whilst I canvassed opinion from friends and strangers.
What brought me back to the concept was a conversation with Ben Mercer. Ben is not your average ex professional rugby player... he spends a lot of time thinking and writing about the future and the periphery of our current understanding (hence the name of his newsletter, The Outlier). When I expressed my excitement and doubt about sports as an early-stage investment category, he outlined a theory of innovation which exploded my world. Namely that sports is an incubator for technology that can scale across investment verticals. A gateway to the future.
Technology transfer is real. For evidence of the “sports transfer” effect, look down at your feet. Trainers started life as a highly specialised piece of athletic equipment. Now they’re everywhere. And the same machine learning algorithms used to predict injuries in elite athletes could one day enable companies to optimise the health, longevity, and productivity of their people. We believe the same will happen with psychedelics and blockchains.
If you're an investor in SportsTech, you're an investor in a host of innovations poised for mass adoption – advanced materials, AI, Metaverse, NFTs, robotics, smart pills and implants, quantum computing, psychedelics, regenerative medicine, additive manufacturing… Ben had the imagination to see that, which is why I made him an advisor to Skin In The Game from day one.
I’m skeptical about Total Addressable Market as an investment criterion. Despite being close to the top of every “VC For Dummies” investment checklist, TAM isn’t a very useful concept. It’s static. It assumes that the market already exists, that it can be measured and mapped a priori, but the greatest founders and startups forge new markets. Such seismic events create mountains of new users and communities, the scale of which is hard/impossible to predict.
Investors don’t pay us to tick boxes and throw abstract numbers around. They pay us to expose them to favourable risk and reward. The data-rich, investment-heavy, attention-abundant landscape of sport is a laboratory for such risk – new technologies and therapies that seem hopelessly niche but have long-term mass market potential. These markets within markets give the sports specialist an edge over mere generalists – an opportunity to achieve the impossible and predict the future. By engaging with innovators in sports we can identify game-changing opportunities in healthcare, corporate wellness, defence, entertainment, hospitality, travel, and a host of other markets.
This isn't just about technology. It’s about ideas. Some of our greatest political, social, and cultural achievements have been originated and/or accelerated by sports. Racial equality, women’s rights, popular music, new ownership models and incentives, disintermediation via social media.
Sports is more than an investment category. It’s a way of life. A way of connecting with the world around us. I genuinely believe that by investing in sport & health we can enrich the lives of people everywhere. Our Total Addressable Market is every single human being on the planet. And if that does’t convince you to part with your money, nothing will.
Deal Flow
This week we have 34 deals across Fitness, Wellness, Sports, Mental Health, Web3, Health, Esports & Metaverse, Nutrition, Family, and Venues.
Sports
🏀 SIQ Basketball Announces $3M Fund Raise to Accelerate Growth and Drive National Expansion – SIQ Basketball, creator of the world's first smart basketball approved by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) for game play, closed a $3 million funding round. The financing is led by KB Partners based in Chicago with participation from Tera Ventures in Estonia.
🏏 Major League Cricket grabs $120m investment to aid US expansion – Major League Cricket (MLC), the US-based Twenty20 cricket competition, has completed a $44 million Series A and A1 fundraising round, with an additional commitment of $76 million over the next 12 months. Investment came from Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, Madrona Venture Group managing director Soma Somasegar, as well as Milliways Ventures and Rocketship VC founding partners Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan.
🏒 VR Hockey Training App Sense Arena Raises $3M to Expand Across More Sports – Virtual reality ice hockey training startup Sense Arena has raised a $3 million investment round led by Prague-based J&T Ventures. Sense Arena already has partnerships with five NHL teams, and its new funding will fuel expansion of its VR training software into other sports.
🏌️♂️ Stix Golf Closes Investors on a $10 Million Series A Funding Round Including Verance Capital and 2.0 Ventures – Stix Golf, on a mission to democratise golf by bringing high quality, modern clubs to the masses at an affordable price, closed a $10 million Series A financing round with notable contributions from existing and new investors including Verance Capital, 2.0 Ventures, and Spacestation Investments.
🥊 The Professional Fighters League has raised $30 million – The round includes former MLB star Alex Rodriguez, who will also serve on the mixed martial arts company’s board. Led by Waverley Capital, the round reportedly values the company at $500 million – a significant increase from the $400 million valuation it received in 2021. Since it was founded in 2018, PFL has raised $200 million. The PFL says it has 600 million global fans. The company is controlled by investors including Ares Capital, Elysian Park Ventures, former NFL player Ray Lewis, and Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner.
Fitness
🇷🇴 Hyperhuman Harnesses the Explosion of Online Fitness and Nabs EUR 550K for Further International Expansion – Romania-based fitness video content platform Hyperhuman finalised its crowdfunding campaign at SeedBlink at EUR 550K. The startup managed to raise EUR 150K through crowdfunding with another EUR 400K pre-committed by Hyperhuman’s long-time supporters, well-known Romanian VCs Sparking Capital (lead investor, known for their investment in KFactory) and Early Game Ventures (known for investing in bonapp.eco, among others).
🏋️♂️ F45 Announces First-of-its-kind $150M Financing Facility to Accelerate Franchise Expansion in the US – F45, the fastest growing fitness franchisor in the world according to Entrepreneur, closed a strategic financing facility with affiliates of Fortress, funded by a $150M commitment of debt financing with the potential to increase to $300M over time.
Wellness
🥃 Monument to Acquire Tempest, Creating the Most Comprehensive Digital Alcohol Treatment Program Offering on the Market – Monument, a leading telemedicine platform for alcohol use disorder, has signed an agreement to acquire Tempest, a pioneering digital alcohol recovery program.
🧒 Securly Acquires Rhithm – Securly, the student safety and wellness pioneer and a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital, announced that it has acquired Rhithm, in a transaction that will unite Rhithm’s best-in-class social, emotional, and mental wellness assessments, content, and insights with Securly’s whole-student success platform to provide K-12 schools with the first comprehensive student wellness solution.
Mental Health
🍄 Psychedelic Water to raise a funding round – Psychedelic Water, the Toronto-based functional beverage company, is looking to raise a funding round of between $3 million and $5 million and is in discussions with investment banks.
Web 3
⛓ FreshCut Secures $15M Funding to Accelerate Transformation of Web3 Gaming Content Ecosystem – FreshCut, a short-form gaming content ecosystem, announced it and its ecosystem partners have collectively raised $15 million in funding. The raises were led by Galaxy Interactive, Animoca Brands, and Republic Crypto with participation from Hashed, SkyVision Capital, Tamarack Global, C2X and Polygon. Other notable investors include Kevin Lin, co-founder of Twitch, CH Kim, co-founder of PUBG, JJ Redick, co-host of “The Old Man and the Three” podcast, 3x NBA Champion Andre Igoudala, Trevor McFedries, co-founder of Friends With Benefits, and prominent content creator Tucker “JERICHO” Boner.
Apparel
👕 D2C startup BlissClub raises $15 Mn in Series A round – Women wellness direct-to-consumer brand BlissClub has raised $15 million in its Series A round led by Eight Roads Ventures and existing investor Elevation Capital. The round also saw participation from angel investors including Swiggy’s CEO Sriharsha Majety, Mamaearth’s co-founder Ghazal Alagh, Licious’ co-founders Vivek Gupta and Abhay Hanjura, former Myntra’s CEO Amar Nagaram, SoftBank executives Sumer Juneja and Munish Varma, Shopif’s executive Brennan Loh and global fashion influencer Masoom Minawala.
Health
🇬🇭 African Healthcare Startup CarePoint Raises $10M – Ghana-based healthcare startup CarePoint has raised $10 million in a bridge funding round as it builds a series of what it calls “micro-tech-enabled-clinics”. The funding round was led by TRB Advisors, with participation from Breyer Capital, Beyond Capital Ventures (BVC), M3 Inc, Asia Pacific Land/ Natural World Limited, and Alan Waxman.
👨⚕️ ThoroughCare closes $3 million capital raise – Pittsburgh-based health care technology startup, ThoroughCare, received a $3 million investment from Cypress Growth Capital, a revenue royalty-based growth capital investor based in Dallas.
🤖 Oxford Drug Design raises £2.2M to develop AI programme – Oxford Drug Design raises £2.2M to develop AI-based drug discovery programme. Biotechnology firm Oxford Drug Design Limited (ODD) has raised £2.2M in funding from existing investors ACF Investors, o2h Ventures, Meltwind Advisory, several returning angels and new investors and the US-based R42 Group.
🇺🇸 St. Louis digital health startup Sparo acquired by venture-backed company – New Haven, Connecticut-based digital health firm Wellinks, which has developed a virtual program to manage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has acquired the business assets of Sparo.
🧫 Deciphex aims to plug a $5 billion supply-demand gap in the pathology sector – The startup raised the funds in a Series B round led by ACT Venture Capital, with other investors participating such as Charles River Laboratories, Novartis, IRRUS Investments, and Nextsteps Capital, as well as a number of existing investors.
🏡 Reverence Emerges from Stealth, Introduces Digital Health Platform to Operationalize Clinically Effective Home-Based Care at Scale – Reverence, a digital health company reinventing how in-home care is managed, emerged from stealth with an initial raise of $9.5M led by Target Global.
🏜 Altitude Lab just raised the largest volume of seed capital for healthcare startups in Utah’s history – The collaborative hub for several life science start-up companies in the greater Salt Lake City area received backing from 3Helix, ePurines, Known Medicine, NexEos Bio, Peel Therapeutics, Rebel Medicine, and Teiko Bio.
🚶♀️ Sidekick Health ups its game with $55M Series B, expanding partnerships – Designed to help better manage multiple chronic conditions, the digital therapeutic engages users in video game-like activities and rewards positive changes in lifestyle choices while delivering personalised educational components.
🇺🇸 Health care startup PatientIQ raises $20M – The Chicago-based company makes software that integrates into electronic health records, and logs feedback directly from patients via surveys.The new funding brings PatientIQ’s total financing raised to about $28M. Investors include New York’s Health Enterprise Partners and Menlo Park, Calif.-based August Capital.
👩⚕️ The story behind Amae Health – Amae Health has raised several million dollars in seed funding led by the healthcare venture-capital firm Virtue. Bling Capital, 8VC, and Able Partners also participated, alongside angel investors, including founders of the startups Cityblock Health and Elemy.
Esports & Metaverse
🎮 Esports team Hyderabad Hydras gets investment – Those who took part in this round of investing include some highly respected names like Mr Madhu Kela, Founder- of MK Ventures, Mr Neeraj Roy – Founder of Hungama entertainment among others. All the investors made this investment in their personal capacity. Hyderabad Hydras is one of India's leading Esports teams.
Nutrition
🇩🇪 Fueling the transition to a more sustainable food system Berlin-based Bosque Foods cooks up €2.8 million – This fresh funding was led by FoodLabs, Happiness Capital, SOSV, Blue Horizon, Blue Impact, and angel investor Arman Anatürk.
🥛 Israeli milk alternatives startup Imagindairy raises $15m – The round was led by Target Global, with participation by the company’s existing investors Strauss Group, Emerald Technology Ventures, Green Circle Foodtech Ventures, Collaborative Fund, New Climate Ventures, and FoodSparks by PeakBridge.
🇮🇸 Popular No Added Sugar Brand, Good Good, Closes $20 Million Round of Funding – Good Good, the Icelandic breakfast & brunch brand known for its no added sugar products, including jams, spreads, keto bars, and natural sweeteners, closed a $20 million Series B round of investments led by SÍA, the leading private equity group in Iceland, along with additional private investors.
👩🌾 Tomorrow Farms Raises $8.5M in Seed Round Led by Lowercarbon Capital, with Additional Backing from Maveron, Valor Siren Ventures, Simple Food Ventures and SV Angel – Tomorrow Farms, a food technology company on a mission to fuel the sustainable food revolution with irresistible food and beverage brands, closed a $8.5M seed round led by Lowercarbon Capital and additional key investors, including Maveron, Valor Siren Ventures, Simple Food Ventures and SV Angel.
🌭 Voyage Foods, The Technology Leader Future-Proofing Classic Foods, closes $36M In Series A Funding – Voyage Foods, the leading food technology company known for re-creating some of our most beloved foods using sustainable ingredients and sourcing practices, rasied a $36M Series A round, bringing total funding to date to $41.7M. The round was co-led by funds managed by UBS O'Connor and Level One Fund, and also included participation from Horizons Ventures, SOSV's Indie Bio, and Social Impact Capital.
Family
🙍♀️ Maternal Health Startup Mahmee Raises $9.2M Series A Led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management – Mahmee, a maternal healthcare startup, closed a $9.2 million Series A round led by the Growth Equity Business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The round also features participation from existing investors including Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Muse Capital, Backstage Capital, The Helm, and Pipeline Angels. As part of the round, Anna Mason, Managing Partner at Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, will join Mahmee’s board of directors. New investors include Episcopal Health Foundation of Texas, Third Culture Capital, Black Pearl Investment Group, She Raises Capital, and Lawrence Platt, MD, pioneering board certified obstetrician-gynecologist and maternal-fetal medicine specialist and member of Mahmee’s clinical advisory committee.
🧫 Sperm-focused fertility startup Legacy banks $25M – Legacy, the celebrity-backed sperm testing and storage startup, has banked $25 million in Series B funding, thrusting its valuation to $150 million. Bain Capital led the round and was joined by FirstMark Capital, Section 32 and TQ Ventures.
🤰 Mirvie Raises $60 Million Funding Round to Shape the Future of Pregnancy Health – Mirvie, a pioneer in predicting unexpected pregnancy complications, raised a total of $90 million to date following the close of its Series B funding. The financing was led by Decheng Capital with additional funding from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Foresite Capital, General Catalyst, GV, Khosla Ventures, and Mayfield as well as a debt facility with Comerica Bank.
👩❤️👨 Relationship Wellness Startup OURS Courts $5M – Looking to reimagine relationship health, OURS launched out of beta, locking down $5M in seed funding from TMV, Serena Ventures, and angel investor Andy Dunn.
👩⚖️ Fertility startup Hannah Life Technologies gets $5.15M Pre-Series A – Hannah Life Technologies, a startup for couples trying to conceive, raised $5.15M in pre-Series A funding led by Monk’s Hill Ventures. Other investors include Golden Gate Ventures, Anthro Ventures and medical technology entrepreneur Dr. Jack Wang. The funding comes about 18 months after the company raised seed funding from Y Combinator.
Venues
🏟 Virtual stadium developer Virtex closed $3.2M in seed funding – Virtex is expanding its team thanks to $3.2 million raised in a round of seed funding. The company is a VR focused virtual stadium developer, with a focus towards esports. Supporters of the funding round include Global Founders Capital, All Iron Ventures and Graph Ventures. Other investors include Sure Valley, Mario Götze and André Schürrle.
Some Tweets
P.S.
I spent an emotional Sunday afternoon watching from behind the sofa as Leeds pulled off the seemingly impossible and outperformed Burnley to stay up. I am also comically sunburnt from a day by the paddling pool playing David Hasselhoff to two toddlers. Sunburn and joy. I’ll take that.
Yours in sports,
Ed
—
Ed Rhys
Co-Founder / Skin In The Game
www.skininthegamegroup.com
Join our Investment Club
If you find this newsletter useful, consider joining our FCA regulated Investment Club connecting investors with groundbreaking startups in sports & health.
It’s free to join and members get access to live investment opportunities, insights on investing in sports & health from our community of industry experts, and access to our private LinkedIn group and events.
SKIN IN THE GAME LIMITED is registered in England and Wales under Company Number 13200102 and with the FCA as an Appointed Representative with FRN 946089. SKIN IN THE GAME LIMITED is an Appointed Representative of Finex LLP which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) with firm reference number 507537.