Zwift is a massive multiplayer game technology that works together with indoor cycling equipment. The multiplayer game-slash-indoor athletics platform was founded two years ago in Long Beach, California. Ever since then, many investors have been following the tech. In fact, it was able to attract $27 Million in Series A funding.
Source: Keyassets
The funding was led by Novator Partners, a private equity firm out of London. This firm has made bet on the video game industry in the past. There are other participants in the funding as well, these include Shasta Venture, entrepreneur Max Levchin. Similarly, earlier backers like Samchull, a maker of bicycle parts in Korea, and Waypoint, a Swiss investment firm.
You can use the Zwift turbo trainer game by linking your turbo trainer to your computer, iPad and iPhone. It has two virtual worlds available to choose from namely, Watopia and Richmond.
One of Zwift’s popular aspects that are appealing to the masses is the ability of the users to connect with friends, as well as strangers around the globe. The users will be able to go around the globe for virtual group rides and races, wherein current users will log in using the popular cycling and running app named Strava. This integration enables the users to view a map of the virtual path that they are riding. Together with the map, their stats and performance information like cadence and heart rate will show as well. In the same way with Strava, Zwift users also earn badges and awards when they’re the fastest.
Source: DC Rainmaker
The indoor cycling and gaming platform isn’t that expensive as well. In fact, the affordability is one of the reasons under its popularity. The users can use the bikes they already own and their own trainers. It costs $10 per month, but it’s also important to note that the users need to have “smart” trainers that has the capability to interact with third party software like Zwift’s.
You’ll be needing a computer to play the game of course. So here are the minimum computer requirements for using Zwift:
OS: Windows 7 x64 bit, OSX 10.7
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 4GB
Graphics: 1GB dedicated GPU, or embedded Intel HD 4000/AMD R5
Hard Drive: 4GB of free space
Take note, these are minimum requirements. Using a computer with higher specs will give a better performance, obviously.
Currently, 200,000 people have already signed up for the service but not all of them are subscribers yet, according to the company.
According to the CEO and cofounder of Zwift Eric Min, an iOS app will be released to the masses soon. While an Android app is coming next year. Zwift will be seen in more places by then. “We’ve been waiting for the iOS platform to arrive to accelerate our business” Min said as he explained that most of Zwift’s new funding will go towards marketing and expanding the team.
Source: Low Cadence
The Zwift team has another challenge as well. It’s getting people who has not tried the service yet to understand why they should give it a shot. But Min is not fazed by that. In fact, he notes that the company is slowly growing through word of mouth so far and he hopes that it will continue. In addition to that, he says “I think people though what we were doing was really niche, but we think the contrary. The opportunity is very large. We’re going not just after traditional cyclists but anyone who wants to be more fit. Anyone who buys a Fitbit device is our target market.”
Article Source:
Techcrunch
