Munich, Germany-based sports gamification outfit Fun With Balls has secured investment courtesy of Hype Capital Fund.
Founder Markos Kern explained that the company is focusing on increasing its momentum and sales in multiple markets, with its team now consisting of 19 employees from 15 countries. “We decided from a very early point that we will focus on international markets. A diverse team with diverse experiences is a key element to this. With this recent investment, we plan to grow it for more traction and a clear focus on the US and Middle Eastern markets.
“Fun With Balls will always challenge the status quo of traditional sports. There are ample ways of making those sports far more fun and engaging – we have just
started, and our vision is to create entire new sports types – combining gaming aspects with real activity, plus fan engagement, possibly in completely new formats.”
Alfred Dietel, investor relations and board member of Fun With Balls, said:“This day marks a turning point for Fun With Balls, coming out of seed stage into a venture capital environment. Hype is the first institutional investor and we are planning to close this interim round shortly with further interested parties. Markos and his team have done a great job so far to bring initial products to market, now we are all up for scaling the business.”
Amir Raveh, general partner of Hype Capital Fund, said: "We are always looking towards the next generation of sports start-ups and disruptive technologies. We have witnessed the concept of Fun With Balls become more mature and see huge potential in gamification of real sports. Having seen the great work and momentum this team has built first hand, we believe that it has the potential to be the next unicorn (company worth US$1bn) of sports innovation."
Fun With Balls merges sports with gaming and has recently won multiple awards. Having launched its first product targeted at squash, its latest product, MultiBall, focuses on a much larger market, from schools to gyms and wider sports academies.
