The Zero1 helmet from VIcis.
The Zero1 helmet from VIcis.

Vicis is raising more cash to help fuel production of its high-tech football helmet.

The Seattle startup today confirmed with GeekWire that it just closed another $6 million in funding, which completes a $10 million Series A round. Total funding for the 2-year-old company to date is nearly $20 million.

More than 100 investors participated in the Series A round, including angels, neurological and spine surgeons, NFL players, and business leaders from across the country.

Vicis previously raised $4 million of the round in April; it reeled in $8 million this past January. Investors range from people like Roger Staubach, the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who led his team to two Super Bowl wins; to folks like Robert Nelsen, a biotech industry veteran and co-founder of Arch Venture Partners, and Bruce Montgomery, a veteran of the Seattle biotech scene.

From left to right: Vicis Chief Medical Officer Samuel Browd; Chief Science Officer Jonathan Posner; Chief Technology Officer Per Reinhall; Chief Executive Officer Dave Marver. Photo via Vicis
From left to right: Vicis Chief Executive Officer Dave Marver; Vicis Chief Medical Officer Samuel Browd; Chief Technology Officer Per Reinhall. Photo via Vicis.

Vicis, a finalist for the 2016 GeekWire Awards in the Hardware/Gadget of the Year category, will use the fresh cash for production and commercialization of its ZERO1 helmet for the upcoming football season. Around 25 NFL and 30 NCAA teams have expressed interest in testing the helmet for the 2016 season, the company said.

The 30-person startup, which spun out of the University of Washington last year, says its ZERO1 helmet provides more protection against skull fracture, traumatic brain injury, and concussion than the traditional helmet used by athletes today. The helmet differentiates from other available options because of a unique outer shell material that is designed to mitigate the forces thought to cause concussions on the football field and in other contact sports.

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