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Standouts

🏀 NBA to Accept Investment From Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds – NBA owners recently reportedly voted to allow franchises to accept investment from endowments, pension funds and sovereign wealth.

🥛 Plant-based shake startup Huel raises $24m in a celebrity-heavy Series B – Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina invested in the company, alongside UK comedian and TV presenter Jonathan Ross and activewear brand TALA’s CEO Grace Beverley. Some conventional investors are also involved, including growth equity investor Highland Europe, which also led Huel’s previous funding round of £20m in 2018.

🇮🇸 Driftline Launches with World’s First Algorithm to Quantify Human Endurance – Driftline emerged from stealth with $800K in funding and that it has developed the world’s first algorithm for the accurate and simple quantification of human endurance.

🍫 Torr FoodTech raises $12m to form snack bars using compression and ultrasonic waves instead of sugary binders – The funding round – led by Harel Insurance Investment and Financial Services, with participation by existing investors Mondelēz International, The Kitchen Hub and Strauss Group – will help the firm continue R&D work, increase production capacity, and hire new talent.

🍯 MeliBio Plant-Based Honey raises $2.2 Million Investment – New and existing investors played, including Collaborative Fund and Jim Greenbaum, Executive Producer of The Game Changers.

Best of the rest

🏏 ECB chair says The Hundred would cost “a few billion” amid private equity interest – Richard Thompson confirms the governing body has received an offer for its flagship competition following reports of a UK£400m Bridgepoint Group bid.

⚽️ Silver Lake increases stake in Man City owner CFG to over 18% – Silver Lake has upped its stake in City Football Group to more than 18%, strengthening its position as the second largest shareholder in Manchester City’s ownership group.

📺 Disney pays $900m for full ownership of streaming company BAMTech – Disney is now the sole owner of streaming technology company BAMTech after paying $900 million to acquire the remaining 15% stake in the firm held by Major League Baseball.

🤚 Lumen scores $62M for handheld metabolism measurement device – The round was led by Pitango Venture Capital with participation from Hanwha Group, Resolute Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Unorthodox Ventures, Almeda Capital and Disruptive VC.

🇬🇧 Yorkshire digital healthcare startup secures share of £25m government funding – A digital healthcare startup has secured two grants including a six-figure sum from a government programme to trial “ground-breaking” gaming and AI technology to support early screening and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

🏏 BCCI sets $49.1m base asking price for Women’s IPL franchise – The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set the base price for a Women’s Indian Premier League franchise at I₹ 400 crore ($49.1M).

🥗 Babaco Market raises €6.3 million for food boxes containing "odd" cuts to tackle food waste – Babaco's series A round was closed with the help of lead investor Milan VC United Ventures, with further participation from existing investors Fondo Acceleratori (a fund division by CDP Venture Capital), Seven Investments, Feel Venture, Doorway, Plug and Play, Startupbootcamp Foodtech, Boost Heroes, NextUp and LVenture Group, and angel investor Niccolò Maisto.

🏐 JB Capital makes strategic investment in CROSSNET – Invented in 2017, CROSSNET is the world’s first four-square-volleyball-like net game. The game is used in over 100,000 homes and is sold in 3,500 retailers, including DICK’S, Sam’s Club, Academy Sports, and more.

🏀 Billionaire Jeffrey Skoll Buying Into Wizards, Capitals Parent – Billionaire Jeff Skoll is buying into Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the parent of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals.

👩‍⚕️ Concierge Medicine Startup Raises Seed Funding to Build Patient App – New York-based The Lanby, incorporated as Avenue Medical Inc., uses a care team consisting of a primary-care doctor, wellness adviser and a professional who serves as a care coordinator and patient advocate to provide members with medical and preventive care.

🏃‍♀️ Asics acquires France’s Njuko – Japanese athletic footwear company Asics Corporation has acquired Njuko SAS, the French race registration platform for running events across Europe.

🧠 Inflow, a Science-Based App for ADHD, Acquires Lina – Inflow, a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) based self-help app, has agreed to acquire tele-health clinic Lina Health.

TZP Group Partners with Soccer Post – TZP, a multi-strategy private equity firm, has invested in Soccer Post, the largest local-market-focused omni-channel soccer specialty retailer in the United States.

🤝 Oola Backed by Global Company in Acquisition Deal – Oola, The Mind and Body Company, has been acquired by global health and wellness leader USANA Health Sciences.

🇧🇷 Brazilian Femtech Feel Raises Round With Female Investors To Advance Sexual Wellness Ecosystem – Feel's latest bridge round is led by Sororitê, Brazil's largest female angel investment network with a pool of 80 investors, and is expected to close in early 2023.

🎮 E-sports tournament platform Gamerji bags $3 million funding – E-sports tournament platform Gamerji on November 30 said it has raised $3 million from existing investors GVFL (formerly Gujarat Venture Finance) and Unicorn India Ventures, amid rising e-sports consumption in the country.

📱 Zoe, which went viral with its COVID-reporting app, raises $30M to track nutrition and health – US-based venture firm Accomplice is leading the round, with previous backers Balderton Capital, Ahren, Daphni and new backer L Catterton also participating.

🌌 Animoca’s New $2B Investment Fund Focuses on the Metaverse – Animoca Brands, blockchain gaming giant and venture capital company, plans to raise between $1 billion and $2 billion as part of a new metaverse-focused fund called Animoca Capital.

💰 Exited telehealth founder launches €100m healthtech VC fund – YZR Capital joins a growing number of DACH-based digital health VCs, but is the first in Europe to be set up by an exited healthtech founder.

🇧🇪 Breaking taboos and optimising health, Belgium’s Minze Health raises €3.9 million – At home digital solutions from Minze provide real-world and objective data, leading to quicker and better diagnostics and care.

🔥 Relief Technologies acquired – Infraway, which makes infrared heating pads for recovery and pain management, acquired Relief Technologies.

🌽 Instacart cofounder collects $30M for nutrition care startup – Thrive Capital led the round, with participation from Greenoaks Capital, which had been a prior backer in Robinhood Markets and Coupang.

🚸 HelloHero Secures $4.3M for Pediatric Behavioral Health Tech Platform – HelloHero provides children with telehealth services. These include mental health, speech and language pathology, physical therapy and occupational therapy.

🇰🇪 Kenya’s Uncover raises $1M to expand skincare product enterprise across Africa – Africa’s beauty and personal care market is growing, accelerated by its burgeoning young and fashion-conscious population, increased spending power and urbanization.

⚽️ Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars up for sale – Two National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) teams could soon be under new ownership after the Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars were put up for sale.

🙍‍♀️ Y-Combinator Alum Almond Raises to Pursue Its Vision of Holistic OB/GYN Care – The company has now raised $7M in seed funding led by True Ventures.

Some tweets

sisyphus bar and grill @itunpredictable – the hot path for new grads: CS at mid tier university, entry level role at fast growing Series B startup with meaningless equity grant, stay for two years and impact absolutely nothing, join mid tier VC fund and tweet about career growth

Sam Parr @thesamparr – This is the startup bro podcast stack.

Lex Fridman @lexfridman – Don't be jealous of other people's success. Celebrate it, use it as inspiration. Life is way more fun that way.

P.S.

Good to see England reinventing test cricket thousands of miles from home. Phenomenal strategy and execution from Stokes & Co. Bravo boys 👏

Yours in sports,

Ed
—
Ed Rhys
Co-Founder / Skin In The Game
skininthegamegroup.com

Join our syndicate

If you find this newsletter useful, consider joining our FCA regulated investment syndicate connecting investors with groundbreaking startups in sports & health.

We enable angels to co-invest with leading funds, family offices & corporate venture, providing access to the very best deals.

Join Our Syndicate

SKIN IN THE GAME GROUP LIMITED is registered in England and Wales under Company Number 14338473 and with the FCA as an Appointed Representative with FRN 984265. SKIN IN THE GAME GROUP LIMITED is an Appointed Representative of Finex LLP which is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) with firm reference number 507537.

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