HIRO-CAPITAL
8.4.2021 07:02:08 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Hiro Capital – the London / Luxembourg VC fund investing across Games, Esports, Streaming and Digital Sports – has further strengthened its portfolio by leading a $2.3m investment in PlayerData .
Edinburgh, UK-based PlayerData’s mission is to transform the way grass-roots and professional sports teams train, using software, analytics, gamification and wearable technology.
- In its first year live, PlayerData has already captured more than 10,000 team sessions and >50 million meters of athlete play in UK grass-roots Soccer and Rugby, and these KPIs are strongly accelerating.
- The $2.3m raise will be used to supercharge PlayerData’s growth across multiple sports and to expand internationally.
PlayerData combines frictionless ease-of-use with sports-science Machine Learning.
- PlayerData drives powerful team network effects, with each club using PlayerData bringing 5 more clubs onto the platform.
- PlayerData’s AI algorithms predict player injuries before they happen and its tools allow coaches to replay key moments from the game, modelling different outcomes based on player positioning.
This announcement marks Hiro Capital’s 12th investment in 2020/21 and its 4th in Gamified Fitness and Sports tech. PlayerData joins fellow Digital Sports startups FitXR (London), Zwift (California/London) and NURVV (London) in the Hiro Capital portfolio, alongside eight Games studios and Games technology firms across the US, Europe and the UK.
The rise of Digital Sports and Connected Fitness
Digital Sports and Connected Fitness are star growth sectors of 2020/21. Global Connected Fitness revenues grew 30% in 2020 and Health and Fitness app downloads grew +47% YoY to c.700m, accelerated by a global focus on health and wellbeing during lockdowns.
Unicorn scale stars of the sector include Peloton, Tonal, Mirror and Hiro’s portfolio investment, Zwift, as well as major strategic Sports and Wellness segments within Apple (Watch 6 and Fitness+), Google (Fitbit), Nike (Nike App), and others. In Digital Sports, alongside Zwift, Hiro’s lead investments powered ahead:
FitXR: The leading VR Fitness App & Service
- FitXR has made extraordinary progress since Hiro invested, with revenues up 10x over the last 2 quarters and now >$1m per month;
- Described by Oculus VP Content Mike Verdu as having “incredible traction” and “one of the highest retention rates on the [Oculus VR] platform”*, and name-checked by Mark Zuckerberg** on his recent “The Information” podcast on VR/AR and the Metaverse.
*”From Bear to Bull: How Oculus Quest 2 is Changing the Game for VR”, Mike Verdu, VP Content, Oculus 2nd Feb 2020
**Mark Zuckerberg on Mind Reading, Apple, and the Race to Mainstream VR, March 8th 2021
NURVV: Patented Smart Running insole and Biomechanical Data Leader
- Since launch in mid-2020, NURVV Run has generated data on >100 million foot-strikes from >125,000km run by athletes around the world, building what is already the world’s largest database of detailed running foot technique;
- Olympic gold-medallist and world-record holder Dame Kelly Holmes has joined NURVV as global brand ambassador; USA Olympian Jared Ward, UK elite coach Harry Jameson, the Financial Times, WIRED, Runner’s World and CNET have all recommended NURVV;
- With iOS, Android, Garmin ConnectIQ, Strava and Apple Watch integrations live, the company is leading running innovation with unique features such as Pace Coach, Footstrike Workout and Running Health score.
- "Knowledge really is power and in this respect NURVV Run is a game changer" said Dame Kelly Holmes.
PlayerData: AI Driven Team Performance
Roy Hotrabhvanon, cofounder & CEO of PlayerData, is a former international archer who narrowly missed out on selection for the Rio Olympics in 2016 for the Thailand national team. Hayden Ball, cofounder and CTO is a CompSci expert in firmware and cloud infrastructure who designed, built, and launched a distributed SaaS solution for the Edinburgh Fringe.
On the Hiro investment, Roy said - “Our mission is to bring fine grained data and insight to clubs across team sports, helping them supercharge their game-making, improve player performance, and avoid injury. We leverage our platform and big data to generate biometric insights applicable at any level - from grassroots to the Premier League. Due to the team network effect, the PlayerData community is fast-growing across the U.K. and overseas. Our ultimate goal is to implement cutting-edge insights from pioneering wearables that are applicable to any team in any discipline at any level. Hiro Capital as an investment partner, shares this commitment to our mission. It’s great to have Cherry, Luke and Ian’s belief, counsel and expertise to help us further our vision. ”
Cherry Freeman, co-founding Partner at Hiro says: “PlayerData ticks all of our key boxes: a huge TAM with over 3m grass-roots clubs; a deep moat built on shared player data, machine learning and highly actionable predictive algorithms; compelling customer network effects; and a really impressive yet humble founding team. We are delighted to be leading this investment round in this exciting DSports innovator ”
Luke Alvarez, Managing Partner at Hiro says: “In a year when lockdown accelerated digital adoption and kept us all out of the gym, companies like Nurvv, FitXR, Zwift and Peloton helped people stay fit, healthy, and biomechanically self-aware. 2020 super-charged connected fitness and PlayerData is our latest exciting investment in this accelerating macro trend .”
About Hiro Capital
Hiro Capital is a London / Luxembourg technology Venture Capital fund which invests in UK, US and European innovators in Games, Metaverse Technology, Esports and Digital Fitness. Hiro Capital generally invests at the post-seed Series A and B stages. We invest both in front-end Content creators in Games, Esports and Digital Sports and in deep tech Metaverse applications of Cloud, Mobile, Streaming, Big Data, AI, Wearables, AR and VR technologies.
We back experienced entrepreneurial teams, building innovative technologies and content with a strongly differentiated proposition and with the scaling opportunity to become very large.
We are Games, Esports and Sports investors who are also Games, Esports and Sports entrepreneurs. We are entrepreneurs who back entrepreneurs. Our core belief is that Games, Esports and Digital Sports will be a central pillar of Entertainment, Economic and Social Life in the mid 21st century. We invest in the innovators who are building that future.
The fund was founded by Luke Alvarez (Managing Partner) the former co-founding CEO & President of Nasdaq-listed, Inspired Entertainment; Ian Livingstone, OBE, CBE (Partner), the former chairman of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos plc, co-founder of Games Workshop and author of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series; and Cherry Freeman (Partner), the co-founder of global community and e-commerce brand LoveCrafts. https://hiro.capital/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210407005773/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Insurance Investment Outsourcing Surpasses $5.5 Trillion as Private Markets and Global Expansion Reshape the Industry20.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
IIOR Shows Record Outsourced Insurance AUM, Private Assets Near $1 Trillion, and Europe Emerging as a Global Growth Engine Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN) today released the 2026 Insurance Investment Outsourcing Report (IIOR), produced in partnership with DCS Financial Consulting. The report captures $5.5 trillion in third-party general account insurance assets under management across 96 asset managers, a 23% increase year-over-year and a 65% increase since 2021, alongside $1.8 trillion in assets under advisement across 12 investment consultants. The findings point to an outsourcing market that has become larger, more global, and materially more complex. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260520780028/en/ The 2026 IIOR reveals defining trends reshaping insurance investment management: Private Markets Cross a Threshold. Third-party private insurance AUM has more than doubled since 2021, reaching $947 billion and
Factbird Adds Quality & Compliance and Reports to its Manufacturing Intelligence Platform20.5.2026 08:00:00 CEST | Press release
Two new capabilities give multi-site manufacturers standardized workflows, traceable records, and automated reporting across every plant. Today, Factbird is announcing two major additions to its manufacturing intelligence platform: Quality & Compliance and Factbird Reports. Both address a problem that compounds as manufacturers grow. More sites mean more variation in how work gets done. More regulation means more documentation pressure on frontline teams. And more data, when fragmented across systems, often slows decisions rather than speeding them up. Solving this has traditionally meant large IT projects and months of deployment. “Enterprise manufacturers shouldn’t have to choose between capability and simplicity,” said Mogens Arne Hansen, Chief Technology and Product Officerat Factbird. “With Quality & Compliance and Reports, you can have standardized, audit-ready operations and automated performance reporting across every site, deployed in days, used by the people on the floor.” Qu
The LYCRA Company to Successfully Complete Comprehensive Financial Restructuring20.5.2026 04:23:00 CEST | Press release
Company positioned for long-term growth, operational excellence, and continued customer-focused innovationWill emerge from financial restructuring with enhanced financial flexibility and significantly less debtNew ownership and Board of Directors committed to executing on vision to take the business to the next levelBruce Rubin appointed Executive Chairman and Dean Williams appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer The LYCRA Company, LLC (“the Company”), a global leader in developing fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, will successfully complete its comprehensive financial restructuring process and emerge from Chapter 11 protection on May 20, 2026. The LYCRA Company has established a durable capital structure that will enable the Company’s pursuit of its growth strategy through investment in innovation, customer partnerships, and global operations. The Company will emerge from its comprehensive restructuring process with significantly enhanced f
Johns Manville Announces John Vasuta as New CEO19.5.2026 22:30:00 CEST | Press release
Johns Manville (JM), a global building and specialty products manufacturer and a Berkshire Hathaway company, announced today that Bob Wamboldt will retire and John Vasuta will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective August 1, 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260519630814/en/ John Vasuta will become JM's CEO and President on August 1, 2026. Vasuta joined Johns Manville in 2019 as President of the company’s Engineered Products business. He also serves on the Board of Directors for EJ, a global leader and private manufacturer of infrastructure access products for water, sewer, utilities, drainage and telecommunications. “It’s an extraordinary privilege to step into the role of CEO,” Vasuta said. “I’m deeply honored to continue serving our customers and supporting the employees whose dedication makes our success possible.” Before joining JM, John held leadership roles at Bridgeston
Mereo Insurance Announces Move into Excess Casualty Insurance19.5.2026 22:12:00 CEST | Press release
Mereo expands into Excess Casualty Insurance by acquiring renewal rights to Everen Specialty Ltd.’s Excess Casualty Energy portfolio. Mereo Insurance Limited (“Mereo”) today announced a renewal rights transaction with Everen Specialty Ltd. (“ESL”), a member of the Everen Group, for ESL’s Excess Casualty Energy portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260519154915/en/ David Croom-Johnson, President & Chief Executive Officer of Mereo Insurance Limited Under the transaction, Mereo will become the insurance carrier on a go-forward basis for both new and renewed business effective June 1, 2026. ESL’s underwriting team and underwriting systems supporting the Excess Casualty Energy portfolio will also transition to Mereo, led by former ESL Chief Underwriting Officer, Carla Greaves. Under the terms of the agreement, Mereo will provide ESL insureds with continuity of coverage, access to AM Best “A- rated” paper, and
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom