TCG, a16z Back Virtual Horse Racing Startup

An Australian-based virtual horse racing platform raised $20 million in Series A funding from TCG Capital Management, Andreessen Horowitz and others

article-image

Source: Zed Run

share

key takeaways

  • TCG Capital Management leads $20 million Series A for virtual horse racing platform
  • It is the second investment into an NFT platform Andreessen Horowitz has revealed this week

Virtually Human Studio, the Australia-based startup behind online horse racing platform Zed Run, has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by The Chernin Group Capital Management. Andreessen Horowitz and Red Beard Ventures also participated in the round. 

VHS is the latest company profiting from the growing gaming and non-fungible token (NFT) industries. Zed Run is a marketplace and gaming program for what creators refer to as “breathing NFTs,” or NFTs that change and evolve over time, similar to real-life animals. 

Zed Run users can virtually breed, sell and buy horses. Virtual horse owners can pay entrance fees to compete in races, and the site collects fees for all of the above. Race participants that come in first, second or third receive prize money in the form of ETH. 

It’s a concept that may sound absurd to anyone unfamiliar with the gaming and NFT industries, but the demand is there. 

“What the team at Virtually Human Studio is building fundamentally alters what it means to be a fan,” said Jacob Smilovitz, vice president at TCG, in a statement. “Fans are now empowered to come down from the bleachers, become owners themselves and play an active role in determining the outcome of the game.”

When launched in 2019, horses on Zed Run sold for around $30, but the explosion of the NFT market has proven to be fruitful for the company.

At time of publication, the Zed Run marketplace was completely sold out, but secondary markets abound. One has a horse available for 1.3 ETH, or around $2,550 USD. 

It is the second NFT investment a16z has revealed this week. On Tuesday, the firm led a $100 million Series B funding round in NFT marketplace OpenSea

The funding rounds come amid a major moment for NFTs across industries. Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz and digital media entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck are part of the team behind Candy, a new sports NFT marketplace with a focus on baseball. Binance recently made its NFT marketplace debut with an auction featuring works from Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali. 

Zed Run is VHS’s first major project with more than 125,000 connected users. VHS closed its first seed funding round in May 2020, according to the company. 

Tags

Upcoming Events

MON - WED, MARCH 18 - 20, 2024

Digital Asset Summit (DAS) is returning March 2024. What you can expect: And more! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be in the room when the future of crypto is decided. Join us and help shape the future of our […]

recent research

Research report - cover graphics-2.jpg

Research

Base has doubled-down on its commitment to the Superchain vision, has shown early signs of success with nearly $400M in TVL, and has become home to novel dapps such as friend.tech which has seen significant traction.

article-image

The SEC, in a Friday court filing, said it reserves its right to object to the plan from Celsius

article-image

Largely unnoticed until Monday, stakeholder Justin Sun confirmed a $8 million hack in a tweet

article-image

Crypto is that perfect edge for candidates to use to gain votes and campaign dollars

article-image

Coinbase can offer crypto custody, crypto buying and selling and crypto trading as part of the registration

article-image

The latest industry scandal has rattled Hong Kong’s ambition to become a global crypto hub as its main financial regulator ramps up measures designed to protect investors

article-image

Coinbase holds about 5% of the total bitcoin in circulation, according to on-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence