Proteus Motion’s $8.5M Series A Round Backed by HBSE Ventures, Acies
Fitness tech startup Proteus Motion has raised $8.5 million in Series A funds as it expands access to its training equipment and develops its software offerings.
Sports tech firm Acies Investment and HBSE Ventures, the VC arm of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils’ parent company, led the round. Blake Griffin Enterprises, Matthew Dellavadova, and Jon Lester invested as well, bringing the company’s total fundraising to date to $17 million. Previous athlete-investors include Dave Winfield and Bryson DeChambeau. A valuation was not disclosed.
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Proteus’ system features an anchored arm that provides resistance in three dimensions (to track any exercise motion) and measures strength output along the way. Well over 100 units are currently in use across the country, and according to the company, they’ve been used by the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Damian Lillard and Patrick Mahomes.
After this raise, Proteus is hoping to grow its footprint beyond elite athletes.
“We’re launching [hundreds of] units this year, which is a big leap up from even two years ago, when I was heavily involved myself in building these kinds of 1.0 [early version] systems with a team of four or five people,” Proteus CEO Sam Miller said. The company now has more than 30 employees. “We’re very carefully entering some of these larger, adjacent markets: both commercial fitness as well as traditional physical rehabilitation.”
Miller is hopeful that Paul Byrne, a new member of Proteus board, will help facilitate that expansion. Byrne spent 28 years at Precor and helped introduce the elliptical to the general market in the 1990s.
“The great thing about Proteus is it can address all those different needs from the super athlete to the 80-year-old person sitting on a chair working on their body strength,” Byrne said.
Proteus is also focused on building out the insights and automated training its tools can provide. “The software and the analytics side is no doubt the biggest opportunity here,” Miller said. “It’s our future. The hardware is really the anchor for it.”
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