Dude Perfect, the Frisco-based sports and entertainment group, and private equity firm Highmount Capital have forged a strategic partnership to back Dude Perfect’s growth and influence. The partnership includes a “nine-figure growth capital investment” that Dude Perfect will use “to pursue new opportunities and projects, add to their slate of creative partnerships, and build a robust management team to lead the group to new heights.”
Based in New York City and Wichita, Kansas, Highmount is a private investment firm focused on early growth-stage and middle market investments in transformative technology, media and growth-oriented platforms.
“The mission of Dude Perfect is to serve families with the most trusted entertainment on earth,” Dude Perfect’s Coby Cotton said in a statement. “By partnering with Highmount Capital, we hope to pour gas on the fire and take the Dude Perfect fun that families have witnessed on screens these past 15 years and turn it into real-life products and memory-making experiences they can actually touch and feel for themselves.”
Dude Perfect features five guys who met as students at Texas A&M: Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, Tyler Toney, Cory Cotton, and Coby Cotton. The crew launched their brand with a trickshot video in 2009 and has since has gained a following of more than 100 million on YouTube. The group’s partnerships span retail, food & beverage, and more, and they also offer “one-of-a-kind” live events for their fans.
“The Dudes have truly captured the hearts and minds of the next generation, pioneering the new creator-led media space and expanding far beyond video and traditional channels,” Jason Illian, co-founder and general partner at Highmount Capital, said in a statement. “In addition to creating content that garners billions of views every year, which is an impressive feat on its own, the Dudes have built something even more valuable and that is trust—trust with families, brands, and consumers of all ages and backgrounds.”
Highmount Capital co-founder and General Partner David Hawkins said that “The name ‘Dude Perfect’ is synonymous with creative, fun, and wholesome entertainment at the intersection of sports and comedy. The Dudes’ success over the past 15 years is an incredible foundation upon which the next phase of growth will be built.”
A new HQ, a planned theme park, and more
Rendering of Dude Perfect’s planned theme park and HQ. [Image: Overland]
The partnership with Highmount Capital is the latest in a series of activations for the creator group, including a retail store, new spaces for podcasts and gaming, a multi-city international tour, the Dude Perfect streaming app, and the upcoming ESPN “30 for 30: documentary titled “Dude Perfect: A Very Long Shot,” which will air at the Dallas International Film Festival this month.
Dude Perfect announced in 2022 that it had teamed up with San Antonio architecture firm Overland Partners to develop a 10-acre headquarters and theme park featuring a 330-foot tall “Impossible Shot” tower. According to the Dallas Morning News, the theme park could cost as much as $100 million to build—which seems potentially more than coincidental given today’s news. “Think sports heaven—indoor & outdoor experiences you can only do here—plus the chance to try things you’ve only seen on video,” Dude Perfect wrote on Twitter in 2022.
In March, Dude Perfect announced that they were raising capital in a quest to make their HQ/theme park a reality. In the meantime, the Dudes said they’re about to move into a new steppingstone: a $3 million new HQ in Jerry Jones’ Star Business Park in Frisco, leaving behind their Frisco HQ 10 minutes to the south, where they’ve shot videos for the last seven years.
CAA Evolution served as the exclusive financial adviser to Dude Perfect and King & Spalding acted as its legal advisor. Highmount Capital was represented by Stinson LLP.
Since launching their YouTube channel 15 years ago as college roommates at Texas A&M University, Dude Perfect has amassed a total following of over 100 million through their “sports-adjacent” content, hundreds of trick shots, content franchises on YouTube including “Stereotypes,” “Overtime,” “Bucket List,” sold-out national arena live tours, and content collaborations with some of the world’s most famous athletes and celebrities.
Beyond content, the Dudes said they inspire and engage with fans around the world with books, mobile games, board games, and toys.
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R E A D N E X T
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Dude Perfect is about to move into a new stepping stone: a $3 million new HQ in Jerry Jones’ Star Business Park in Frisco, leaving behind their Frisco HQ 10 minutes to the south, where they’ve shot videos for the last seven years.
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