The billionaire co-founder of PayPal Peter Thiel has invested in the drug friendly alternative to the Olympics, the Enhanced Games.
The Enhanced Games has promised the freedom to use banned substances that are not allowed in much of elite sport.
The brainchild of London-based lawyer Aron D’Souza, the Enhanced Games have announced the closing of a Series Seed funding.
It has resulted in a number of venture capitalists coming on board.
The concept
Enhanced Games funding
The multi-million dollar round has been described as key to giving the games their foundations to grow.
Alongside Thiel, a 56-year-old billionaire thought to be worth just shy of $10bn, is life sciences and psychedelics investor Christian Angermayer’s Apieron Investment Group and former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan.
“The Enhanced Games is pleased to have the support of Christian, Peter, Balaji and all our other investors. They see the vision of a new model of sports that openly celebrates scientific innovation and honestly represents the use of performance enhancements in sports today”, said D’Souza.
“Unlike the Olympic Games, Enhanced believes that excellence deserves to be rewarded. Support from the world’s leading venture capitalists enables us to create the structures that pay athletes fairly.”
Angermayer said: “I was instantly drawn to Enhanced Games’ forward-thinking ethos and its alignment with many elements of my own vision for the Next Human Agenda. Its core mission centres on building a platform that not only improves the safety and fairness of competition but also stimulates scientific breakthroughs and nurtures human advancement.”
Past squabble
But former British Olympic chief, Sir Craig Reedie, has previously told City A.M. that the idea of the Enhanced Games “flies in the face of the world-agreed system”.
“I think that’s a great quote,” D’Souza said in response to the comments in City A.M. last year. “I sort of had a chuckle. Sir Craig said that this isn’t a system that the athletes wanted. I am not sure if you actually talk to the athletes of the world, do they want to piss in some cups in front of the International Olympic Committee?”