Quell, a London-based fitness gaming developer and publisher has closed $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Tencent (also backed CuraCel) with follow-on investment from Khosla Ventures, Heartcore Capital, Social Impact Capital, and entrepreneur, co-founder, chairman and former CEO of AngelList, Naval Ravikant.
The fund will enable Quell to upsise its launch game, Shardfall, and continue to expand its video game library. The company will accelerate the large-scale production of its ‘Impact’ fitness gaming system. It brings Quell’s total funding to $15.6 million.
Reports reveal that health and fitness app sector is forecast to reach $10 billion by 2027, up from $7 billion in 2022. The UK company pioneering the future of fitness gaming technology aims to utilise the opportunity.
Cameron Brookhouse, Co-Founder and CEO of Quell, said: “The Quell Impact is the first gaming platform designed from the ground up to deliver high-intensity, personalised workouts where the player is the controller. Through our pioneering technology, we aim to help millions of people worldwide unlock the health and wellness benefits of exercising while immersing them in worlds where the hero gets stronger as they do. We’re thrilled with the support we’ve received from such a distinguished team of investors and look forward to seeing the over 10,000 Impact pre-orders arrive in people’s homes soon.”
Building fitness gaming technology
Founded by Cameron Brookhouse, Doug Stidolph, Lorenzo Spreafico, and Martin Tweedie, Quell has developed ‘Impact,’ a first-of-its-kind platform dedicated to fitness gaming systems to deliver high-impact training in immersive digital worlds.
The company’s lightweight motion and fitness-tracking technology combined with athlete-grade resistance bands to deliver real-world feedback, resistance, and tracking to player action, burning over 600kcal an hour on average.
Consequently, the device turns the player’s body into the controller and enables users to feel the impact of their movements as they run, jump and fight their way through rendered immersive environments.
According to Quell, the inbuilt fitness trackers measure calories burned, heart rate, and speed, and can automatically adjust the game and the workout difficulty to deliver high-intensity exercise.
The Impact device will be released in 2023 alongside the company’s first game, ‘Shardfall’, developed in-house by engineers and fitness experts.
Dr. Ling Ge, Chief European Representative at Tencent and Quell Board Member, said: “Tencent is delighted to support Quell as it looks to bring the future of fitness to consumers globally. Until now, fitness gaming was an undeveloped sector, providing either a great gaming or fitness experience, but never both. Quell’s Impact device solves this problem – by refusing to sacrifice entertainment or exercise, it provides a consistently entertaining, exhilarating home fitness experience. We’re confident Quell will drive fitness gaming to the mainstream and are proud to support them as they work towards their global launch this year.”
