VR Startup Raises $20M Series A as Headsets Re-enter Spotlight
Sports tech and gaming company StatusPro recently raised $20 million in Series A funding, with plans to expand its offerings beyond its breakout debut, NFL Pro Era.
Launched in 2022, Pro Era has enticed more than 1 million users to date, according to the company, becoming the fastest-selling VR sports title on Meta’s Quest platform. The game uses real-time player data to simulate NFL action, with recently added multiplayer contest modes.
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Google Ventures led the round, with participation from Dream Sports, Minnesota Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf’s Wise Ventures, JDS Sports and Alumni Ventures. Others contributing funding included LeBron James, Drake, Maverick Carter, Myles Garrett, Haslam Sports and TitletownTech.
StatusPro founders—and former football players—Troy Jones and Andrew Hawkins plan to continue building NFL Pro Era while exploring additional game opportunities as well.
“We want to be in any and everything,” Jones said in an interview. “Anything that is a sport that captures emotion, passion of the fans, excitement, we believe that we’re going to be able to execute the strategy that we’ve developed for NFL Pro Era across those sports.”
Founded in 2020, the company emerged from a time when there was less enthusiasm about virtual reality. But a new wave of energy has followed an uptick in usage, particularly around gamers and Meta’s headset lineup. Next-generation devices, including augmented reality smart glasses and Apple’s Vision Pro spatial computer, have generated optimism in the industry as well.
“It was a lot more pressure for us when we were trying to evangelize this, and nobody saw what the hell we were talking about,” Hawkins said.
Given the various directions hardware is currently heading, Hawkins said StatusPro won’t limit itself to virtual reality development, or eyewear-based experiences.
“Troy and I met in 2016 and talked about exactly where we are at this point at a time when not only athletes weren’t talking about it, people in general in sports had no idea what was on the horizon,” he said. “Our expertise, we call it first-person sports.”
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