The Enhanced Games just secured major backing from Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.'s 1789 Capital to launch a controversial Olympic alternative where performance-enhancing drugs are not just allowed - they're encouraged. Launching in Las Vegas next May, the startup promises $1 million bounties for world records and plans to use the spectacle as marketing for future enhancement products, fundamentally challenging how we think about competitive sports.
The Enhanced Games is betting that fans want to see just how fast humans can really go. With fresh funding from Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.'s 1789 Capital, the startup is preparing to launch what it calls the world's first performance enhancement-friendly competition in Las Vegas next May.
The concept flips traditional sports on its head. While the International Olympic Committee and major sports leagues spend billions fighting doping, Enhanced Games embraces it completely. Athletes can use any performance-enhancing substances they want, provided they pass safety protocols designed by the company's medical team.
"We're not anti-Olympics," co-founder and President Aron D'Souza explained during a recent TechCrunch Equity podcast interview. "We're pro-human optimization. There's a massive difference between cheating within existing rules and creating new rules that celebrate human potential."
The financial model draws inspiration from Red Bull's playbook - use extreme sports spectacle as marketing for a broader product ecosystem. But instead of energy drinks, Enhanced Games plans to develop and market human enhancement technologies, positioning the competition as a real-world testing ground for longevity and performance products.
Thiel's involvement makes strategic sense given his long-standing investment in life extension technologies through companies like Unity Biotechnology and his personal interest in human enhancement. 1789 Capital, founded by Trump Jr. and Holtby, has been actively funding companies that challenge established institutions.
The $1 million world record bounties represent just the surface layer of Enhanced Games' ambitions. D'Souza revealed that the company is developing proprietary enhancement protocols and monitoring technologies that could eventually be commercialized for broader markets, from military applications to anti-aging therapeutics.
Timing couldn't be better for the startup. The global sports enhancement market is projected to reach $7.2 billion by 2027, while the longevity industry attracts billions in venture funding annually. Enhanced Games sits at the intersection of both trends, potentially creating a new category of entertainment-driven health optimization.
