Team organisation Veloce Esports announced this week that it has raised a new funding round, and will merge in its Veloce Racing brand going forward.
The Financial Times reports that the organisation raised GBP4 million in the round, which includes former Lloyds Development Capital CEO, Darryl Eales, currently co-chairman of Veloce Racing.
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Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Veloce Esports CEO, commented in a release: “The world has changed in the last few months and it has deeply impacted all sports, even esports. Our team took the initiative very early on and showed immense determination to come out of this moment in a considerably stronger position than when the pandemic started. Beyond that – and speaking as someone who has recently recovered from Covid-19 – we used this time as an opportunity to raise our head above the parapet. We were there to capitalise on the surge and leverage the enhanced exposure to raise significant capital, bringing our two businesses closer together to further boost our growth plans. Between both esports and racing, we are all extremely excited for what the future holds.”
Former Liberty Global Executive and current Veloce Esports chairman Eric Tveter – who previously invested in a Veloce angel round in September 2019 – also participated in the funding round. The round also includes Russian scientist, mathematician, and entrepreneur (and Veloce Racing non-executive chairman) Andrei Cheglakov, and former Marussia F1 CEO Andy Webb (also Veloce Racing co-chairman).
Veloce Esports is currently focused on racing games, including F1 2020 and Gran Turismo, although it previously fielded a team in Rocket League as well. In May, Veloce Esports partnered with McLaren Racing to operate the racing team’s sim-racing initiative.
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Veloce Racing will field a team in next year’s Extreme E competition, which features off-road electric vehicles battling it out in varying conditions.
Eales added in a release: “As investors we are extremely excited to continually help the management grow Veloce across the ever flourishing esports industry and Extreme E, the next year is going to be a busy one with Extreme E’s inaugural season kicking off in 2021 and esports’ recent boost in popularity. We’re all excited to see what the future holds for Veloce!”
Esports Insider says: Veloce Esports clearly sees its future in racing, whether it’s in esports or Extreme E, and this investment suggests that the organisation is well primed to continue on in that effort.