AEXLAB raises $5M Series A to fuel expansion, Q4 game launch
Summary
This funding allows the Miami-based startup’s founders to scale up their development team as they prepare to launch their inaugural game franchise, VAIL VR, in time for the holiday season. Co-founded in 2015 by brothers Jonathan and Albert Ovadia and Elizabeth Clark as a passion project, AEXLAB is a virtual reality studio on a mission to create meaningful technologies for gaming, simulation and social experiences. VAIL VR is a multiplayer First Person Shooter game that emphasizes tactical gunplay, high-caliber combat, and collaborative teamwork, while also providing a social home for gamers to hang out in between matches or as a full-time experience. ”I’ll hire anyone who is passionate, talented and wants to move to Miami to work in person with us.” While Jonathan said he encountered a number of investor rejections on the road to their Series A, visionary real estate developer Craig Robins and Fuel Venture Capital Managing Director Jeff Ransdell were mentors and early believers. “I felt like I was sitting across the table from the next Mark Zuckerberg and I thought to myself I don’t know much about the vertical but what I do know is I’m an investor in great founders.” Ransdell said he’s also helping AEXLAB raise a next round of funding for building out metaverse applications beyond VAIL VR.