Friday, 25 April 2025
Friday, 25 April 2025
In an event that sounds more like the plot of a sci-fi comedy than a medical awareness campaign, Los Angeles is set to host the world’s first-ever sperm race.
The unconventional competition, organised by a startup named Sperm Racing, aims to bring attention to the growing concern of declining male fertility rates by pitting sperm samples against one another—on a microscopic racetrack.
The event, scheduled to take place at the Hollywood Palladium on April 25, is expected to draw an audience of over 1,000 spectators, with organisers aiming for a full house of 5,000.
The race is being spearheaded by startup Sperm Racing, launched by Eric Zhu (Aviato & Thor Ventures), Nick Small (youngest sold-out founder in crypto), Shane Fan (Waterfall Market), and Garrett Niconienko (MrBeast team).
The initiative has secured a $1 million funding round led by Karatage, with participation from Figment Capital and Karman.
The announcement was shared on Instagram by commercial real estate media outlet Traded via the handle tradedvs.
The announcement read, "‘Sperm Racing,’ founded by Eric Zhu (Aviato & Thor Ventures), Nick Small (youngest sold-out founder in crypto), Shane Fan (Waterfall Market), and Garrett Niconienko (MrBeast team), recently raised $1 million in a round led by Karatage, with participation from Figment Capital and Karman. The funds will support the development of the world’s first sperm race — a unique event combining health and sport.”
The caption also revealed that the race will feature a match-up between sperm samples from UCLA and USC, adding a collegiate rivalry angle to the event.
As the news goes viral, the internet can’t stop reacting.
Despite the invisibility of the ‘athletes’ in this race, Sperm Racing has promised a fully immersive sporting experience.
The event will mirror a major sporting spectacle, complete with news conferences, live commentary, and even betting opportunities.
A microscopic racetrack, designed to replicate the female reproductive system, will be the main arena for the races, with high-resolution cameras capturing microscopic movement of the competing sperm.
The race will be structured as a mini-marathon of sorts, featuring two spermatozoa—each measuring 0.05 millimetres in length—racing along a 20-centimetre microscopic track.
The course incorporates chemical signals, fluid dynamics, and synchronised starts to mimic the challenges faced in natural conception.
With human sperm swimming at a speed of roughly 5 millimetres per minute, the duration of each race remains unpredictable and could range from a few minutes to over an hour.
According to the race’s official manifesto:
"We're turning health into a sport. If you can train for sports—spend hours perfecting your form, pushing your body to its limits—then why can't you train your health too? Why can't you measure it, improve it, and compete in it? We're building the first-ever racetrack for sperm. Two competitors. Two samples. One microscopic finish line.”
The event also seeks to shed light on a pressing global issue.
Research has shown that sperm counts worldwide have plummeted by over 50 per cent in the past half-century.
Factors such as stress, poor diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption continue to have a detrimental impact on male fertility.
The startup hopes that by gamifying the issue men will be encouraged to take reproductive health more seriously.
