Dude Perfect flips from YouTube to IRL with $100M investment from Kansas firm
April 9, 2024 | Taylor Wilmore
WICHITA, Kansas — With more than 16 billion views on their YouTube channel, 60 million subscribers, and major brand deals already established, the team behind the family-friendly sports and entertainment group Dude Perfect is poised for even greater impact with fans, said Jason Illian.
Jason Illian, Highmount Capital
Highmount Capital today announced a strategic partnership with Dude Perfect — a nine-figure growth capital investment to fuel such opportunities and creative projects as a new headquarters in Frisco, Texas, a retail store for Dude Perfect merch, new spaces for podcasts and gaming, and a multi-city international tour.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although some media outlets reported its value at $100 million.
“We try to invest in transformative companies with amazing leaders and vision,” said Jason Illian, co-founder and general partner at Wichita-based Highmount Capital. “Dude Perfect has the trust of tens of millions of American families, and we saw what they were doing at a high level of excellence.
Beginning their social media domination with a viral water bottle flip video, the Dudes — Tyler Toney, Garret Hilbert, Cody Jones, and twins Cory Cotton and Coby Cotton — gained fame on YouTube in the early 2010s with their wild sports trick shots filmed during their time at Texas A&M University.
“I think the story of us staying together for 15 years is something that we don’t want to ignore,” said Jones, a founding member of Dude Perfect. “Our faith is a huge piece of it, we’re all Christians and came from really awesome families.”
The Texans behind the brand — whose comedy tour previously rolled through the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City — recognize the significance of the investment toward turning their longevity on YouTube into a lasting legacy, added Coby Cotton, fellow Dude Perfect founder.
“By partnering with Highmount Capital, we hope to pour gas on the fire and take the Dude Perfect fun that families have witnessed on screens these past 15 years and turn it into real life products and memory-making experiences they can actually touch and feel for themselves,” said Cotton.
Dude Perfect: Cory Cotton, Cody Jones, Tyler Toney, Garrett Hilbert and Coby Cotton; photo courtesy of Dude Perfect
Big brands, big plans
Among the tangible real-world products already in the hands of Dude Perfect fans: a limited-edition Dude Perfect Smoothie — featuring a blend of pineapples, bananas, kiwi apple juice blend, protein blend, vanilla frozen yogurt, turbinado and blue spirulina — at Smoothie King.
“I was telling the Dudes that in Wichita I drove by a Smoothie King and saw a line out the door of all kids that we’re getting Dude Perfect smoothies,” said Illian. “I think that’s just a credit to what they’ve built over time and the kids connecting to it.”
Watch for a new Dude Perfect sports drink through a partnership with Body Armor as well, releasing later this year.
“I think the sky’s the limit for us,” said Jones. “You could look at what we’ve done and think, ‘You guys are successful, you must be almost done,’ but I think we’ve only begun. This is the start of something really big.”
Dude Perfect’s Disney
Dude Perfect is currently in the planning stage of building its very own entertainment destination, the biggest undertaking for the group by far. With the project valued at $100 million, they said, the Dudes envision a space where families can perform the trickshots and sports they’ve seen from Dude Perfect videos — a Dudes’ own twist on Disney World.
“I think the big discussion that we’re having now is ‘How do we take this to multiple cities?’ Whether you’re Kansas City or Dallas, how can you experience and engage with what the dudes do every day?” said Illian.
The Dudes are still determining the location and opening timeline for the first such location of Dude Perfect World.
“Disney started somewhere by drawing a mouse, and I doubt Walt knew at that time that it would turn into cruises, theme parks and movies,” said Illian. “I think the Dudes have that same opportunity to take what content they have and expand.”
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Taylor Wilmore
Taylor Wilmore, hailing from Lee’s Summit, is a dedicated reporter and a recent graduate of the University of Missouri, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism. Taylor channels her deep-seated passion for writing and storytelling to create compelling narratives that shed light on the diverse residents of Kansas City.
Prior to her role at Startland News, Taylor made valuable contributions as a reporter for the Columbia Missourian newspaper, where she covered a wide range of community news and higher education stories.
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