London-based esports organisation Veloce have secured a multi-million pound cash injection from private investors.
The org have merged with Veloce Racing to combine esports with electric motor racing Extreme E. Both entities will now become part of the overarching Veloce banner.
The FT and Esports Insider report that Veloce raised £4m in funding.
Among the investors are ex-CEO of Lloyds Development Capital, Darryl Eales, former Liberty Global Executive Eric Tveter, Russian-born scientist, mathematician and entrepreneur Andrei Cheglakov and Andy Webb, former CEO of Marussia F1.
Sim racing has enjoyed an uplift in interest during lockdown, with tournaments like the F1 Virtual Grand Prix Series, 24 Hours of Le Mans and others drawing the interest of sim racers and professional race drivers alike.
“The next year is going to be a busy one with Extreme E’s inaugural season kicking off in 2021 and esports’ recent boost in popularity. We’re all excited to see what the future holds for Veloce!”
Darryl Eales, Veloce
Rupert Svendsen-Cook, Veloce Esports CEO, said in a post on the Veloce website: “The world has changed in the last few months and it has deeply impacted all sports, even esports.
“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. Between both esports and racing, we are all extremely excited for what the future holds.”
Daniel Bailey, Veloce Racing CEO, commented: “I’m incredibly excited to work with our investors and the whole Veloce team – across Extreme E and esports – to grow this innovative and dynamic business!”
Darryl Eales, Veloce Racing Chairman and ex-CEO of Lloyds Development Capital, added: “As investors we are extremely excited to continually help the management grow Veloce across the ever-flourishing esports 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 esports’ recent boost in popularity. We’re all excited to see what the future holds for Veloce!”
Veloce Esports also secured investment last year.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
