Premier full-contact striking league Karate Combat has raised $18 million in a funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures.
The striking league, which blends live-action and full-contact karate with immersive CGI environments powered by Unreal Engine, will use the funds to support the May 10th launch of the Karate Combat App and $KARATE token.
By utilising XR technology, Karate Combat can carry viewers into a virtual world where they can experience the excitement of martial arts in unique ways. The live broadcast will also blend sports league and real-time virtual effects with real-life athletics.
Robert Bryan, Karate Combat co-Founder said, “Karate Combat has done a great job fulfilling the need of sports content for younger fans in a manner vastly different from traditional sports. We are thrilled to now have BITKRAFT Ventures, a distinguished investment firm led by a team of venture capitalist heavyweights, in our corner and believe the DAO will continue to supercharge our ongoing success and create a new category of entertainment within Web3.”
Karate Combat is also structured as a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), with token holders having control over the direction of the league. On May 10th, the company will launch the Karate Combat UP Only Gaming App and $KARATE token with which fans can collect free $KARATE tokens.
Tokens to gamify viewing experience
The $KARATE token both governs the League and gamifies the live viewing experience. Holders of the $KARATE token can use the league’s smart contracts, web apps and mobile apps to vote on fighters, earn additional $KARATE tokens with no risk of loss, and boost their favourite fighters’ potential prize pools.
“Sports league value largely emerges from the quality of the competition, and the passion and loyalty of the fan base. Karate Combat is leveraging its Web3 tools and ethos to shift how fans engage with their favourite sports by building direct relationships, aligning incentives, and enabling influence over every aspect of the league,” said Carlos Pereira, partner at BITKRAFT Ventures.
The league is streamed and broadcast to over 100 countries worldwide. Distributors include Eurosport, Globo’s Combate, MatchTV, BeIN Sports, CBS Sports, and ESPN Deportes.
There are approximately 100 full-time exclusive fighters which include world champions like Rafael Aghayev, Raymond Daniels, Luiz Rocha and Ross Levine as well as UFC Hall of Famer Bas Rutten as the league’s lead announcer.
The funding also had additional participation from Delphi Digital, The Operating Group, Alpha Wave Global, Hashkey, Lattice, M13, Santiago Santos, RooxieXBT and others. Prior investors include the League’s founders, Packy Mccormick’s Not Boring Funds, and Keyboard Monkey.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
