Poolhouse raises $34M for gamified pool from the creators of Topgolf

Poolhouse, an effort from the Topgolf founders to build entertainment clubs around the game of pool, has raised $34 million. Much like Steve and Dave Jolliffe revolutionized golf with Topgolf, they plan to do the same by revolutinizing pool. Not only do they plan to create fancy clubs with quality restaurant food, they also plan to incorporate augmented reality technology to broaden the appeal of the pool-playing experience, said Andrew O’Brien, CEO of Poolhouse, in an interview with GamesBeat. The seed round was led by Sharp Alpha, a U.S. leisure-focused venture capital investor, and DMG Ventures, which is DMGT’s consumer venture capital fund. Other participants include Emerging Fund, (investors in F1 Arcade, Flight Club and Batbox), David Blitzer (owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils), Simon Sports (a co-owner of Ipswich Town F.C.), and Active Partners, an early investor in Soho House. On top of that, Signature Hospitality Group, one of Australia’s largest hospita ... Read full article.