Motor racing and esports media group Veloce has received a $50 million investment from GEM Digital. Rather than being a simple cash injection, this is connected to Veloce’s launch of its VEXT Web3 technology. The aim is to supercharge this decentralized platform ready for launch, enabling the second stage of the Media Group’s evolution, and furthering its plan for sustainable motor sport.
The investment comes through a “structured token subscription agreement”, which basically means that GEM Digital will invest up to $50 million in VEXT, so that the platform can use this to deliver its expanding products and services. With sustainability and equality firmly at the core of what Veloce is trying to achieve, the group hopes that this large injection of funds will enable it to realize its goals.
“We firmly believe in the five pillars of climate action erected by the UN,” says Dan Bailey, CEO Racing and Chief, Veloce Media Group. These are: mobilizing finance; building adaptation and resilience; nature regeneration; addressing climate losses and damage; and inclusivity. The latter is particularly interesting because it’s not directly climate-related but is still central to what Veloce focuses on.
“We have for example invested in Molly Taylor’s career in RX2e,” says Bailey. This is one of the electrified series within World Rallycross, which took its primary RX1 series electric last year. The group has also invested in the careers of Hedda Hosas and Jamie Chadwick. Veloce uses the number five to represent this equality drive, because inclusivity is the fifth UN climate action pillar.
Veloce’s main interest in real-world motor racing is Extreme E, however, which has had its third round of season three in Sardinia this weekend. Veloce, one of the first teams to join Extreme E, was top of the leaderboard after the Hydro X races in Scotland in May, with Molly Taylor in the female seat for its team.
However, Veloce’s core business has historically been on the virtual side of competition, with 35 million subscribers to its online platforms and nearly one billion monthly views across digital streaming services including YouTube and Twitch. It also operates esports for brands including Mercedes AMG, McLaren, and Ferrari, as well as the joint venture with Lando Norris, Quadrant.
“The GEM Digital funding will enable us to acquire new assets to bring utility to VEXT,” says Rupert Svendsen-Cook, CEO, Veloce Media Group. “This will include games, alongside real and virtual sports assets.” Some of the games will be wholly acquired by Veloce, while others will license VEXT to integrate the token into their titles. As yet, Veloce hasn’t unveiled any of these new assets, other than saying that they will be chosen to fit within the remit of the Group towards sustainability, inclusivity and engagement.
The core drive behind VEXT is to enable subscribers to be more actively involved in Veloce’s activities. “We want to provide ownership, not just passive consumption,” says Bailey. VEXT is a radical concept and most people become skeptical whenever Web3 is mentioned in a sentence. The FTX and Bittrex failures have given pause for thought, while the many crypto scams give the impression that Web3 is mostly made up of con artists.
However, all new developments come with controversy. It’s almost inherently part of disruptive innovation, particularly innovation that a lot of people don’t understand. This provides opportunities for those who do understand to take advantage of those who don’t. Veloce has gone to great lengths to ensure its platform is entirely above board. “The security of our platform is audited by Kudelski,” says Bailey. “We have sponsorship from E.ON energy and Allcot provides us with carbon offsetting.” Strong governance is central to VEXT, and Veloce’s technology partner for the platform, Mischon de Reya X Tech, is also hardly a purveyor of dubious crypto business.
Fundamentally, Web3 is about decentralization, which Veloce sees as key for tackling global issues. Blockchain also has clever technology that can enable built-in “smart contracts” – like money with rules attached. “Web3 can add massive value,” says Bailey. The value is in how the tokens can be connected to services and capabilities, including those related to physical assets or goals. This is where VEXT can enable Veloce’s missions of sustainability and inclusivity. The token subscribers can influence how Veloce deploys its resources, such as shaping the sustainability mission.
The VEXT platform is due for launch this summer. This is not entirely within Veloce’s control, as the launch partner Web3 exchange dictates the exact date. Veloce’s plan is to make access as easy as possible, however, so that in the future there will be no need for the complications of interfacing with an exchange. The aim is to integrate mainstream payment services such as Apple Pay, so that anyone can interact with the VEXT platform via a familiar system. There will also be an Open Source SDK to facilitate the integration of VEXT or building services around it.
A lot is riding on VEXT for Veloce. The group sees the problem of sustainability as one that can’t be fixed primarily by prohibiting human activity. It requires the promotion of positive solutions. This is why sustainable motorsport is increasingly central to Veloce’s activities because it provides an aspirational platform to publicize decarbonization. This needs investment, and now Veloce has plenty of that from GEM Digital to build Phase II of its strategy.
Read the full article here
