British F1 and McLaren legend Ron Dennis CBE has made a major investment in British music entertainment business ROXi, taking a 10 per cent stake in the company.
ROXi is already backed by Robbie Williams, Alesha Dixon and Sheryl Crow.
The firm’s device offers music streaming, karaoke and entertainment via a TV-box and remote with built-in microphone.
It is designed to be used with friends and family as a solution to ‘smartphone discontent’.
“Small screen addiction, with kids glued to social media and smartphones, is a massive problem for families today,” said Dennis.
“I’m investing in ROXi as it provides an antidote; getting kids off smartphones and iPads and gets them enjoying lots of different musical experiences together with their parents, siblings and friends – and all through a fun interactive experience that involves music, games and singing.”
Dennis said that as children can spend as much as 23 hours per week on small screen devices, they may be spending less with their family.
“The big picture is we need to get kids off tablets, phones and headphones, and to start enjoying fun shared entertainment experiences together. The next revolution in family friendly entertainment will be big screen centric experiences, and ROXI is well placed to kick start this revolution.”
Rob Lewis, CEO of ROXi, added: “Ron Dennis is the one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, having founded and grown the McLaren Technology Group.
“Having Ron join our team will help us deliver ROXi’s shared music experiences to more families, more rapidly, in more countries, giving families more quality time together and less time isolated on smartphones and tablets.”
This new investment from Ron Dennis CBE comes ahead of ROXi’s planned IPO on the London Stock Exchange which has been pushed back from a its previous goal of late 2019.
Lewis said the investment from Dennis will allow the firm to ramp up marketing and manufacturing in the final quarter of the year, ahead of the IPO which will happened when “BREXIT and other political uncertainty is resolved”.