I tested FightCamp two months ago and interviewed co-founder and former US National Boxing Team member Tommy Duquette. Today the company announced they raised $90 million from Mike Tyson, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather, Georges St-Pierre, and venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Connect Ventures.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Seriously, however, this is massive news: the investors are looking to take what is already a fairly complete and successful technology package and make it an international hit.
(Check out my original post here.)
From my story on Forbes about the fundraise:
“[FightCamp] was a cool way to introduce boxing to my kids and now I can’t keep them off it,” Mike Tyson said in a statement.
The FightCamp system uses smart boxing gloves and a punching bag along with core and aerobic fitness movements to give users a full-body workout, a means to improve their self-defense capability, and possibly even work off some aggression and tension.
Sensors in the gloves track your workout, punches, and intensity.
A new mode in the app, Versus, allows you to compete with others virtually — in a sense “fighting” them while hitting your own punching bag. That’s going to be addictive and fun, making a game out of getting fit, especially with friends. It makes home workouts social, which is important.
And it could add virality to the product.