Mahomes is one of a number of high-profile NFL players that wear a Vicis helmet during gamesGETTY IMAGES
Football helmet maker Vicis around Thanksgiving informed its investors that it was "running out of cash," representing a "startling fall for a company that has won plaudits for its high-tech helmets and raised more" than $90M from venture capital and some of the NFL's highest-profile players, according to Belson & Draper of the N.Y. TIMES. The company, with a "board that includes highly respected doctors, business leaders and military advisers, also secured" $1.1M in grants from the NFL, though the league "does not have an ownership stake." The Vicis situation "highlights one of the biggest challenges in football's fight to make the game safer." Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and "dozens of other players wear a Vicis helmet each Sunday." Shock absorbers inside the helmet have been "shown to reduce the impact of direct hits and limit the rotational energy the head absorbs." But so far, that has "not been enough for Vicis to succeed." In its letter to investors, the company said that it "would try to raise additional money by selling shares" that valued the company at just $5M, compared to a $90M valuation as recently as last year. To "stay afloat, Vicis plans to cut operating costs by half, curtail expansion plans and focus on just two football helmets -- its adult model and a version for children." Internal Vicis documents show the company "expects to lose" $26M this year (N.Y. TIMES, 12/17).
