‘Lego for video-game controllers’ – €1.5m funding boost for accessible games controller start-up ByoWave

According to a filing with the Companies Registration Office, Galway-based ByoWave received the investment in late June.

Investors in the fundraising round include Irish business angel network Irrus Investments, which led the round and Kadsura Unlimited Company, which counts Smyths Toys directors Patrick, Anthony and Thomas Smyth as directors.

Speaking with the Sunday Independent, ByoWave CEO Brandon Blacoe, who co-founded the business alongside chief experience officer Eibhlin O’Riordan, said the €1.5m was the first tranche, with a second tranche of funding yet to come.

Blacoe said the investment will help ByoWave bring its Proteus controller to market. The controller has been described as “like Lego for video game controllers” and comprises modular parts that connect to suit the user’s requirements.

“We are really excited about this market-entry phase, going to the US market and the collaboration that we have had with Microsoft to let us bring this device into the US market,” he said.

“Our goal is to launch this product at Gamescom at the end of August with Microsoft.”

Blacoe said the firms that invested into the funding round were filled with expertise from previous business experiences.

“We have always been leveraging that expertise with respect to our own business model,” he said. “We are delighted to have constant feedback and support on our journey and our mission from these groups.

“From my perspective, I can only say that we have had a strong mission to create accessible technology for gaming from the start and we created a business plan in line with that. These investment groups saw the potential in us and our business plan, and they have supported us with the funding and their own business expertise.”

He said the second tranche of funding it plans to raise was undefined.

In March 2023, ByoWave raised €2.4m from several seasoned investors, including Irrus, the Halo Business Angel Network and Enterprise Ireland.

The Halo Business Angel Network, a group of experienced technology entrepreneurs, put in the largest share, with an investment of €1.1m.

Irrus, another angel investment fund led by Aidan O’Driscoll and Mike Ryan, invested nearly €650,000.

The Western Development Commission put in €500,000 and Enterprise Ireland invested €150,000.

ByoWave was founded in 2020 by O’Riordan and Blacoe, who designed a computer game controller based around O’Riordan’s needs as a gamer.

O’Riordan has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, an inherited condition that meant she eventually found she could not play video games for longer than half an hour.

On its website, ByoWave said the Proteus Controller was created to work for as many people as possible, whether gamers with disabilities or non-disabled gamers looking for a more customisable way to play.