Virtual racing outfit Veloce Esports has announced that it has secured £4m (US$5.2m) in private investment, and will merge with Veloce Racing to focus on the hyper-growth of e-sports and Extreme E, representing electric, climate-conscious and gender-equal motorsport.
Veloce Esports has gained popularity recently after a slew of high-profile online races – including the globally recognised #NotTheGPSeries – during lockdown; it has also recently added McLaren Racing’s official e-sports team to its portfolio. The organisation is on track to top 100 million views across its digital network in July.
Meanwhile, Veloce Racing occupies a new space in the form of an Extreme E team – a new series of electric racing taking place in the most remote corners of the world with the mission to highlight climate change challenges. The squad’s managerial line-up features innovators and entrepreneurs alike all gearing up for the start of a ground-breaking season in 2021.
Veloce said its activities in both e-sports and Extreme E underline its ambition as a disruptor in the industry, with sustainability and gender equality the key messages of Extreme E, and innovation and the digitization of sports fundamental components of the e-sports industry. The company said that these elements helped to secure the investment that will now be utilized to expand the burgeoning e-sports organisation and fledgling Extreme E franchise.
Among the investors in the new, overarching Veloce banner are ex-CEO of Lloyds Development Capital, Darryl Eales, former Liberty Global Executive, Eric Tveter, renowned Russian-born scientist, mathematician and entrepreneur, Andrei Cheglakov and Andy Webb, former CEO of Marussia F1.
Veloce Esports CEO Rupert Svendsen-Cook said, “The world has changed in the last few months and it has deeply impacted all sports, even e-sports. 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. We were there to capitalize 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 e-sports and racing, we are all extremely excited for what the future holds.”
Daniel Bailey, Veloce Racing CEO, commented, “The start of the Extreme E season can’t come soon enough, I think the lockdown period has made us all even hungrier than before to get this innovative motorsport series underway. As the youngest team in the championship, we have something to prove and the additional funding will only strengthen our efforts. I’m incredibly excited to work with our investors and the whole Veloce team – across Extreme E and e-sports – to grow this innovative and dynamic business!”
Darryl Eales, Veloce Racing chairman, added, “As investors we are extremely excited to continually help the management grow Veloce across the ever flourishing e-sports 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 e-sports’ recent boost in popularity. We’re all excited to see what the future holds for Veloce!”
