London-based esports racing outfit Veloce have had a major injection of funding from an organisation called GEM Digital to their parent group.
Veloce are one of the leading organisations in the sim racing scene, founded by former F1 driver and 2-time Formula E champion Jean-Éric Vergne. It has seen many successes across various competitions, and accumulated a large following through content creation.
They are responsible for the running of many F1 team’s esports divisions, formerly Alfa Romeo and currently Mercedes-AMG, McLaren and Ferrari. They also operate YAS HEAT and Lando Norris’ lifestyle brand and gaming team Quadrant.
They also compete in real life racing. With their driver Jamie Chadwick, they won the 2021 W Series title. They are currently leading the Extreme E championship with World Rallycross driver Kevin Hansen and inaugural Extreme E champion Molly Taylor.
They’ve now had an injection of cash from a new sponsor, VEXT. This will position them as a decentralised gaming and sports media organisation.
Daniel Bailey, Chief Commercial Officer Veloce and CEO Veloce Racing had this to say:
“It comes very soon after the announcement of VEXT and our plans to evolve our media and sports group into this truly innovative space; validating Veloce’s position as a pioneer in the industry.
The GEM commitment will allow us to focus on growth and expansion, through acquisition of more gaming and real-life racing properties, ultimately giving our vast community further VEXT utility and influence.”
What This Means
This major investment in an organisation like Veloce has the potential to be hugely significant. The brand has truly led the way in transforming the competitive sim racing and racing games content creation scene into less of a niche and more mainstream.
In their announcement, VEXT have indicated that there are opportunities for the public to get involved with the investment. There are multiple partnerships and integrations to be announced in the coming weeks.
Editor’s Take
I am a huge fan of Veloce, they are truly an important team in the world of virtual and real-world racing. Good for them that they’ve got more money to spend in important areas to grow their business and attempt to grow the scene as a whole. However this move, as significant it is for them, is nothing for fans to get excited about.
It’s especially draining when you consider VEXT are crypto based. Veloce are not the first esports team or organisation to take in crypto investment and they won’t be the last. But it’s especially poignant with how it’s proving unstable and falling out of favour. Mercedes’ F1 team lost a lot of money when their crypto sponsor FTX went bust, let’s just hope Veloce can plan ahead for when it likely goes under.
What do you make of Veloce’s $50M investment? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
