StatusPro, the virtua reality (VR) company of two former NFL players, Troy Jones and Andrew “Hawk” Hawkins, is to receive $20 million in a series-A funding round led by Google Ventures (GV).
The company produces first-person sports games that use “real-time player data.” Its game NFL Pro Era works on Meta’s Quest platform and is the first VR simulation to be licensed by the NFL or the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). In October the game added head-to-head multiplayer play.
According to Sports Business Journal, Hawkins and Jones will be using the new capital to expand the company’s NFL-related gaming and move into other sports. They have declined to reveal their priorities in this respect – just as they have declined to state a valuation for their company – but plan to proceed as before, securing licensing deals with leagues and players’ unions.
Breaking down the VR barrier
They are aware of the barrier to entry for potential players. “We are thinking of innovative ways to expand beyond people with headsets to attract people to getting headsets, and trying to break the barrier of, ‘Oh, I have to commit to buying this headset to experience this game,’” Jones said. “It’s not lost on us that the VR market is still growing, but ultimately when you think about the first-person, fully immersive experience, you can’t replicate that unless you have the headset on.”
Among the funding round’s other investors are the Indian digital-sports firm Dream Sports, the investment group Wise Ventures (controlled by the owners of the Minnesota Vikings), the sports and entertainment private-equity firm JDS Sports and the American venture-capital firm Alumni Ventures, along with LeBron James, Drake, Maverick Carter, Main Street Advisors and Haslam Sports Group.
StatusPro is headquartered in Miami. About half of its staff in the US consists of former athletes.
