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Gym Class - by IRL Studios

Gym Class - by IRL Studios logo

Gym Class - by IRL Studios

Connecting the world by simulating it

gymclass.com
HQ: Los Angeles, CA, USA; Remote
11-50
Consumer

Company research

Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals

Updated Jul 29, 2026

Overview

IRL Studios Inc. (doing business as Gym Class) is a 2021 San Francisco-based social VR sports platform that started as a Quest basketball game and expanded into baseball, boxing, football, paintball, soccer, and mobile. It is free-to-play with premium bundles/season passes, has NBA and MLB licensing, and is publicly backed by a16z, Y Combinator, and sports/athlete investors. Public materials do not show a current CEO; Matthew Harris is the co-founder/CEO in earlier materials, while current public leadership centers on Paul Katsen, Justin Hubert, Erik Hazzard, and Pierre-Arjun Dalaya.

Primary product

Gym Class — a social VR sports game/platform for Meta Quest and mobile

Founded

2021

Headquarters

2261 Market Street STE 5119, San Francisco, CA 94114, United States

Team size

10-20

Work style

Remote

Industry

Mobile Gaming Apps

Sub-industry

VR sports / social VR gaming

Offices

Los Angeles, California, United States

Business model

free-to-play
in-app purchases
premium bundles and season passes
licensing / partnership monetization

Funding

Stage

Seed

Total raised

$8.1M

Latest round

Seed VC · Aug 2022

Latest amount

$8M

Seed VC

Aug 2022 · Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

$8M

Seed Round

Mar 2022

$125K

People & investors

Leadership

Paul Katsen

Co-founder

Justin Hubert

Co-founder

Erik Hazzard

CTO

Pierre-Arjun Dalaya

Lead AI Gameplay & Systems Engineer

Founders

Matthew Harris

Co-founder & CEO (through Jun 2025)

Investors

Andre Iguodala
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Balaji Srinivasan
Danny Green
Founders Inc.
Golden State Warriors
Kevin Durant
Lonzo Ball
NBA
Soma Capital
Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund
Y Combinator
Zaza Pachulia

Work & culture

Fast-moving, high-ownership, feedback-heavy team that ships quickly and works closely with leadership. The public pitch emphasizes consumer social + gaming + AI, with immediate community feedback and rapid iteration.

Work style

Remote

Compensation

Public job posts show roughly $170K-$240K for Design Engineer roles and $200K-$250K for Principal Product Manager / GM roles, plus equity. Benefits listed publicly include medical, dental, vision, and 401(k) matching.

Benefits

equity
medical insurance
dental insurance
vision insurance
401(k) with matching

Product & market

Pricing

Free-to-play base app with paid in-app bundles, premium content, and season passes; MLB Bundle starts at $19.99.

Differentiators

  • —physics-based VR sports mechanics
  • —licensed NBA and MLB team content
  • —social play with friends and community creation
  • —expanding from VR to mobile
  • —strong viral/community presence on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram

Technology

Node.js
AWS (DynamoDB, Lambda, API Gateway, ECS, Redis)
React
TypeScript
Unity
Maya
Blender
Normcore
BigQuery
Mixpanel
Figma
HTML/CSS
Google Analytics 4
Amazon CloudFront
Google Fonts
jQuery 3.5.1

Customers

Meta Quest players
mobile players
sports fans
social VR gamers
community creators

Competitors

Rec Room
VRChat
Meta Horizon Worlds
FitXR
Eleven Table Tennis
Nock

Scale & contact

Estimated revenue

approximately $3.5M-$6M ARR (public third-party estimates vary widely)

press@gymclassvr.com

Latest news

Major League Baseball and Gym Class Team Up for Immersive VR Baseball Experience

Gym Class Blog · Jun 2025

Official announcement of the MLB Bundle, including 30 MLB-branded ballparks, official uniforms, progression rewards, and a starting price of $19.99. The post also reiterates the company’s 2021 founding and free-to-play model.

'Gym Class' Gets Official MLB Bundle and NBA Playoffs 2025 Pass

Meta Quest Blog · Jun 2025

Meta’s blog highlights the official MLB Bundle and a new NBA Playoffs 2025 Pass, underscoring Gym Class’s licensed sports content strategy and premium in-app monetization.

Gym Class VR inks MLB licensing deal, all 30 clubs added to game

Sports Business Journal · Jun 2025

Reports the MLB licensing deal, notes the game’s scale, and says the baseball community had reached over 150,000 active monthly members.

YC and a16z back virtual reality basketball app Gym Class

TechCrunch · Aug 2022

TechCrunch covers the seed round and early growth, including additional angel backers and the company’s early TikTok-driven traction.

Breakthrough VR Basketball App Gym Class Closes $8 Million in Seed Round Led by Andreessen Horowitz

BusinessWire · Aug 2022

Official seed-round announcement: $8 million led by a16z with YC participation; describes Gym Class as a leading VR basketball app with nearly one million downloads at the time.

Blog / newsCareersHomepageInstagramLinkedIn companyPress kitPrivacy policyTikTokX / TwitterYouTube
SourcesGym Class homepageGym Class privacy policyGym Class blog: MLB Bundle announcementGym Class blog indexY Combinator company pageY Combinator jobs pageWork at a Startup: Design Engineer roleWork at a Startup: Product Manager / GM roleBusinessWire seed round announcementTechCrunch coverage of seed roundUploadVR seed round coverageSports Business Journal MLB deal storyMeta Quest blog MLB bundle storyGym Class LinkedIn company pagePaul Katsen LinkedIn profileJustin Hubert LinkedIn profileMatthew Harris LinkedIn profileErik Hazzard LinkedIn profilePierre-Arjun Dalaya LinkedIn profile

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