Former Pro Skater with Youtube, Snap, and Google Execs On Board Launch ShredSpots, a Street Sports App with AR Ambitions

ShredSpots launched today, brought to life by former pro skater Lev Filimonov, and an executive team on board that counts former YouTube, Snap, and Google execs. A street sports app designed for lovers of skateboarding, rollerblading, BMX, parkour, snowboarding, and other similar “alternative sports,” the startup claims it will be the only app lovers of those disciplines will need.

Following a successful beta program that attracted over 150,000 community members from 100+ countries and more than 48,000 contributors, ShredSpots is hoping to deliver what street sports proponents have been missing – a community-driven global map of skate spots in their area, with a high level of detailed information, but also a way to immortalize street-born creative expressions and allow creators to monetize their works of art and performance. 

And soon, the app will unveil an augmented reality (AR) media player that immerses users into a world of graffiti, murals, and alternative sports. Think “Pokemon Go,” but for sick tricks. With AR already helping to improve our lives beyond the “catch ’em all” mechanics of that seminal mobile game, ShredSpots is tapping into a fast-growing market.

Market research firm Grand View Research reports that the global AR market hit $25.3 billion USD in 2021 and projects that it will grow by a compound annual growth rate of more than 40% from 2022 to 2030.

Within the app, available for iOS today and soon for Android, users can find the best locations, filtered by the challenges they need (amount of stairs, rails, etc.). The upcoming addition of AR features – which are underpinned with Web3 technologies that suggest other blockchain-related features in the future – will let each community member see the tricks others have pulled in each spot, almost as if the original skater, blader, or other street athlete were doing it live.

ShredSpots is founded by the former pro skater Lev Filimonov (Forbes 30 Under 30; Stanford; Founder of LA-Fund, Check-in Bar App, and international nightclub franchise Boom Boom Room), Horia Ciurdar (former CTO at YouTube Mobile), Tommy Petrov (former Creative Director at Snap), and Abe Vizcarra (former Head of Design at Snap).

“There’s no question that street sports are a form of self-expression that must be accessible to everyone,” Lev Filimonov, co-founder and CEO at ShredSpots, said. “People who do these sports are not just athletes but artists with unique styles and mediums of expression. Even when they compete, they do it to demonstrate their creations to a bigger crowd. Creators within street sports worldwide can now upload trophy spots to the F2S map and document history on a bigger scale.”

Their team includes Alexey Levchenko (founder of $100m startup Online Makeup Academy, which has over 50k students worldwide, and 500+ million views), Olympian Andy Anderson, and Lance Lemond (One of the Boys).

Investors include unicorn founders, Embria Ventures, and C-level executives and directors of Google, Snap, and YouTube. Palo Alto VC firm Peer Ventures led the seed round

While several “community map” apps are available, ShredSpots has ambitions beyond just letting people know where they can try out and improve their skills across their local area and whenever they travel somewhere new. And with a significant number of users already acquired, that “who’s who” of executives, a former pro skater at the helm, and with already landing funding, we’ll be watching to see what tricks the app will play next.