Nex, the company behind the controller-free console Nex Playground, has raised more than $150 million in equity and debt financing to fund a global rollout targeting Europe and Asia.

The round includes a Series E led by Baillie Gifford and BAI Capital, with participation from NBA Investments, Logitech, Medici Capital Partners, and the Raine Group, plus a new credit facility with JPMorgan. Alongside the financing, Nex appointed former Niantic, Zynga, and EA executive Jeff Shouger as chief financial officer.

What does the money buy?

Scale. Nex Playground has sold over 1 million units worldwide and made headlines after outselling the Xbox Series X|S in the United States during the 2025 holiday season. After establishing a foothold in the US, Nex expanded to Canada, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and Germany. The new capital supports a broader international push, with Europe and Asia named as key target regions.

The console's business model rests on subscriptions rather than hardware margins. Owners access a rolling roster of more than 60 titles through quarterly or annual subscriptions, including licensed properties such as Bluey, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Pac-Man. Nex is approaching 1 million subscribers and expects to pass that milestone by the end of the calendar year.

What did executives say?

CEO and co-founder David Lee framed the raise around longevity and reach. "Families have timeless needs: to move, grow, connect, and have fun. The response to Nex Playground has shown us that active play can serve those needs at a meaningful scale," Lee said.

"We are building Nex to be a 100-year company. This investment gives us the resources to bring active play to millions more families around the world, and Jeff and Bing bring extraordinary experience building enduring gaming and technology companies. I'm thrilled to have them with us for this next chapter," Lee added.

New CFO Shouger pointed to the company's position in the market. "Nex has reached an exciting point in its evolution, with strong consumer adoption, a growing content ecosystem of guilt-free content that is fun, active and good for families, and significant opportunity still ahead," Shouger said. "I've spent much of my career helping gaming and technology companies navigate periods of growth and scale, and I'm excited to work with David and the team to build an enduring global business."

Why it matters for the market

The raise signals continued investor appetite for family-oriented, hardware-plus-subscription gaming businesses outside the traditional console duopoly. Nex Playground's subscription-led model — recurring revenue built on a rotating licensed catalog rather than premium software sales — gives the company a services-style economics story that helped attract late-stage backers like Baillie Gifford and a debt facility from JPMorgan.

Shouger's hiring also matters operationally: a CFO with scaling experience across Niantic, Zynga, and EA typically precedes either further capital raises or international operational buildout, and Nex is signaling the latter.

Watch whether Nex crosses the 1 million subscriber mark by the end of the calendar year — a public milestone the company has now set for itself.