Arcturus Raises $11 Million Series A Round Led by Cloudtree Ventures and Joined by Autodesk, Epic Games

By Joe Lemire

Arcturus, a volumetric video editing and streaming platform, has raised an $11 million Series A round led by Cloudtree Ventures and joined by Autodesk and Epic Games. 

Among the planned uses for the new investment is to improve the functionality of volumetric video in Autodesk’s Maya and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, which Arcturus says will quickly improve character creation and virtual production. A core piece of Arcturus’s IP is its ability to compress giant volumetric video files, and its flagship product is its HoloSuite editing tool, whose use increased by 270% from Q2 to Q3, according to CEO Kamal Mistry.

Founded in 2016 by executives with experience at Netflix, Google, Pixar, Dreamworks, YouTube and Uber, Arcturus previously raised a $5 million seed round that was led by Bitkraft Ventures with participation from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Ventures and Marc Merrill, the cofounder and co-CEO of Riot Games.

Aescape Raises $30 Million Series A and Aims to Bring AI-Powered Massage Product to Market in Late 2023

By Joe Lemire

Aescape, which is developing fully automated massage therapy, has announced a $30 million Series A led by Valor Siren Ventures and Valor Equity Partners with participation from a few additional funds as well as existing investor and NBA All-Star Kevin Love. 

With the new funding, Aescape plans to bring its data-driven, AI-powered massage product to market in late 2023. It has already signed 17 partners to be the initial distributors at launch.

Among the executive team are senior leaders with experience at Amazon, FitBit, Peloton, Tonal, Meta, Uber and the NBA’s New York Knicks. Love’s former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Matthew Dellavedova, who now plays for the Sacramento Kings, was also an earlier investor.

NHL’s New Jersey Devils Join Smartabase Client Roster, Team Will Use the Athlete Management System to Manage Player Data

By Tom Friend

The New Jersey Devils have entrusted Smartabase’s performance and analytic platform to serve as the franchise’s athlete management system.

Formerly known as Fusion Sport, Smartabase utilizes software that will allow the Devils to integrate and consolidate data from various third parties to better manage player workloads and better examine player screening and speed-based training. Smartabase’s tracking and analytic results will be studied in aggregate and turned into daily workload and readiness reports that can be reviewed by coaches and team trainers to aid player performance and injury surveillance.

Smartabase’s software has also been utilized by national sporting federations, Olympic committees and other NHL teams such as the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings. The UFC Performance Institute adopted the Smartabase platform, as well, allowing MMA fighters to access and view their own data through the Smartabase Athlete App.

Founded in Brisbane, Australia in 2003, Smartabase is also being deployed for military research and in the public and health care fields. The company expects a 100% increase in annual revenue in 2022, and some of its past investors include Australian NBA player Matthew Dellavedova and Sydney-based Equity Venture Partners, who were part of a $5.5 million investment round in 2020.

Smartabase also released a Human Performance Optimization Tech Stack in May, a market report of performance technologies that included dividing more than 300 tech training products into categories.

Ergatta Releases New Gaming Experience for Their Connected Rower, Workouts Are Calibrated So Users Can Compete in a Level-Playing Field

By Tom Friend

Connected rowing company Ergatta has inserted calibrated technology into its new Vortex game that allows users to compete against other rowers regardless of their fitness level.

Modeled after the handicap system of golf, Ergatta’s proprietary Calibrated Competition technology democratizes workouts by scoring each member’s performance relative to their personal Intensity Zones and not their specific speed. That way, beginners or pro athletes rowing on the immersive Vortex platform — including Ergatta brand ambassador Colin Kaepernick — can go head-to-head as part of the gamification experience.

Through the calibration, the Vortex scoring system combines a member’s effort and fitness level to calculate their ranking. Users attempt to amass more tokens than their opponents during each timed interval of the competition. A member’s split time, in relation to their fitness category and previous race results, measures how many tokens they collect in a given stroke. Their personal stroke rate also factors in to how often they can receive tokens.

Ergatta was a 2019 graduate of the Indianapolis Techstars accelerator, led by managing director Jordan Fliegel, and recently raised a $30 million Series A that helped lead to its $200 million valuation. The connected at-home rower is equipped with a large tablet that provides live and on-demand digital content, based primarily on a gaming experience.

InspireTek Names Rodney Rapson New CEO as Australia-Founded Mental Wellness App Seeks Overseas Expansion

By Joe Lemire

InspireTek, the Australia-founded mental wellness app, has named Rodney Rapson as its new CEO while founder Annie Flamsteed transitions into the role of executive chair. 

Rapson, a former NCAA Division I tennis player at Arizona State and Jacksonville State, was PlaySight’s managing director for Europe and the UK over the past four years. Prior to that, he founded his own tennis academy near Frankfurt.

InspireTek has more than 40 organizational partners, whose young athletes use a mobile app to engage with wellness surveys and content. It also has integrations for biometric data to track sleep, fatigue and other measures. Rapson’s experience in global sales of sports tech will be called upon as InspireTek seeks to expand overseas. Flamsteed, a former competitive gymnast, will focus more of her time on continued iteration of the product as well as mental health advocacy and speaking.

Lockerverse Launches Community-Based Digital Platform Featuring Collaborations With Bronny and Bryce James, C.J. Stroud

By Tom Friend

Lockerverse has launched a digital and cultural platform that includes partnerships with Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and LeBron James’ two basketball-playing sons Bronny and Bryce.

Founded by former Stanford University classmates William A.I. “Trey” McDonald, James Carlos McFall and Marcus Rance, Lockerverse is a community hub and website that features athletes as well as entertainers, artists, designers and brands. Participating fans can not only gain access to the player-related content, but also to merchandise, digital and in real life experiences, gamification and community chats.

Lockerverse will initially feature Stroud, the Heisman Trophy candidate from Ohio State. In addition to Bronny and Bryce James, the company has struck deals with Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Memphis University basketball coach Penny Hardaway and various college basketball players from Duke, UCLA, Baylor, Arkansas and Texas.

The company was recently tabbed to be part of the 2022 Disney Accelerator, which held its Demo Day on November 10th.  At the time, Lockerverse announced that will collaborate with ESPN on a free digital collectable for the Celebration Bowl to be held December 17th in Atlanta.

Nordensa Launching Fan-Funding Platform for Soccer Prospects in January, Funding Will Cover First-Year Salary and Associated Costs

By Joe Lemire

Nordensa, a soccer tech startup, is launching a new platform that will crowdfund the starting salary of promising prospects as an investment toward their future earnings. The app is slated to launch in January with the opening of the winter international transfer window. 

The stated goal of Nordensa is to support younger players from developing countries who may otherwise have the opportunity to pursue their sports career. The company, which touts its Premier League-level scouts, will identity the talent, primarily from Latin America and Africa, and then helping the place the athletes with partner clubs, mostly smaller ones seeking wider access to players.

Fans can buy shares starting at €30, with the money covering first-year salary and other associated expenses. If the player signs subsequent contracts or gets transferred, those backers receive their initial investment back, as well as monthly dividends. Similar models exist for other sports, such as in motorsports with the Alexander Rossi-backed Evo having launched in 2021.

“We’re beyond excited to bring fans the opportunity to make a tangible impact in the future of both their clubs and the world’s most promising new talent, with a unique model that’s unparalleled in football — allowing fans to have a say in which young players they want to support and give a shot to achieve their wildest dreams,” Nordensa COO Gui Fernandes said in a statement.

“Nothing beats the passion of football fans, and it’s only right that they now get a chance to be an active part of their clubs’ and young players’ destinies. The top-level scouting professionals and the wider team joining us in this venture are also credited for the powerful message we’re sending out to the world of football — and we strongly believe that this is where the future democratization of the planet’s number one sport is heading.”

Manchester United to Make Their First NFT Free for Fans, Digital Collectibles Will Be Distributed via Tezos

By Joe Lemire

Manchester United has announced that its first NFT will be given to fans for free. The digital collectibles will be distributed via Tezos, the club’s training kit sponsor and official blockchain partner

The exact drop date of the NFT was not announced, but Man U said in a release that fans claiming the token on Tezos will own a piece of club history and have access to its official Discord channel. The social community platform will also solicit ideas for events and other collectibles.

Though the first NFTs are being gifted, 20% of all subsequent releases will be donated to the Manchester United Foundation; the first for-sale token is priced at £30. The club positioned this first NFT and Discord channel as foundational to its Web3 vision.

“Having watched the Web3 space closely and consulted with fans for their views on how this unique virtual world should operate, we’ve worked with the Tezos ecosystem teams to apply these learnings and believe that the launch of Manchester United digital collectibles is different to others, providing the option of unique and enhanced engagement opportunities to our incredible fans,” Manchester United’s CEO of digital products and experiences, Phil Lynch, said in a statement.

Utah Jazz Open Shoot 360 Training Facility, Shot-Tracking Feedback Technology Will Be Used in Jazz Youth Camps and Clinics

By Tom Friend

The Utah Jazz opened the first Shoot 360 training facility in the greater Salt Lake area this past weekend, in a campaign to help develop youth basketball players through artificial intelligence and real-time data tracking.

Located in Lehi, Utah about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, the high-tech facility lets players rotate through interactive stations and skill cages that provide automated audio and visual instruction about their shot mechanics, ballhandling and passing. Real-time feedback is relayed via AI to a player’s mobile app. 

Shoot 360’s technology measures analytics such as shot arc, shooting percentage, left/right differentials and tips on how to improve shot accuracy. The facility’s skill cages are equipped with virtual trainers who analyze a player’s ballhandling and passing metrics with automated moving targets. The experience can also be gamified through shooting contests against participants from other locations.

Shoot 360 technology was designed to democratize basketball analytics to a wider audience, similar to a new smart basketball hoop, called Huupe, which also leans on AI for automated feedback and coaching. In April 2021, Shoot 360 raised a $2.25 million Series B funding round that included investments from basketball stars such as Trae Young and Sue Bird. Other players to invest in the company are Jamal Crawford, Thad Young and Breanna Stewart.

“The [Shoot 360] technology was so far advanced,” Crawford told SportTechie in July 2020. “For example, you could go to one of the shooting cages and do a workout, and they’ll tell you like, ‘Crossover, step back, hesitation, pull up.’ You do it, and they draw it for you exactly.”

Jazz coaches and executives were present for the debut of the Lehi facility on Saturday, Nov. 5, and plan to open two future Shoot 360 youth locations in Kaysville, Utah and Salt Lake County. Shoot 360 also has facilities in Denver, Irvine, Calif., Walnut Creek, Calif., Memphis, Pittsburgh and Charlotte, among others.

Golf+ Adds Branded Digital Clubs, Equipment From Callaway Golf and TaylorMade Into Its VR Golf Game

By Andrew Cohen

Golf+ is adding branded digital clubs and equipment from Callaway Golf and TaylorMade into its virtual reality golf game for Meta Quest 2 headsets. Other updates include a digitally recreated Pinehurst No. 2 course that will be playable in Golf+ starting Nov. 18, while a virtual Pebble Beach will be added Dec. 9.

Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Mike Trout, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth invested in Golf+’s $6 million funding round in October. Starting in December, Golf+ will introduce new putting analysis and more than 20 swing feedback metrics collected through sensors in the Meta Quest headset and handheld controller. Golf+ retails for $30 and has reported more than 700,000 users.

“Our belief is that in the next five or 10 years [a virtual reality headset] is one of those technologies that most people have at least one in their house,” Golf+ CEO Ryan Engle told SportTechie. “One of our foundational principles is that we think VR is going to be the next major consumer technology.”

New team multiplayer modes, skins, and match play formats will also be added into Golf+ in time for this holiday season. Pebble Beach and Pinehurst No. 2 join the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Valhalla Golf Club, and Wolf Creek Golf Club as digital versions of real-life courses available in Golf+, which has a partnership with PGA of America. Callaway Golf, the equipment brand that also owns Topgolf, has an existing Topgolf game mode available in Golf+.