# Chris O'Dowd

> Chris O'Dowd is the co-founder and CEO of WIN Reality, an Austin-based virtual reality training platform for baseball and softball hitters. A former professional catcher who played six seasons in the minor leagues after starring at Dartmouth, he built WIN Reality with his father, longtime MLB executive Dan O'Dowd, to close the gap between practice speed and real game speed. The Meta Quest-based product lets players face game-speed pitching from a library of thousands of real pitchers, and is now used by youth players, more than 200 colleges, and a majority of MLB franchises. The company raised a $45M+ round led by Spectrum Equity in June 2022.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at WIN Reality
- **Organizations:** WIN Reality
- **From:** Denver, Colorado, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High school diploma, Regis Jesuit High School (Denver, CO), Undergraduate degree, Dartmouth College
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled WIN Reality into a leading VR athletic training platform, Built a product adopted by a majority of MLB franchises and 200+ NCAA baseball and softball programs, Raised a $45M+ growth round led by Spectrum Equity in 2022

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Graduated from Regis Jesuit High School in Denver; drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 40th round but did not sign, choosing college instead
- **2012** — Drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 23rd round out of Dartmouth College and began his professional career as a catcher
- **2013-2017** — Played in the minor leagues across organizations including the Padres, Rockies, Braves and White Sox systems
- **2016-2018** — Co-founded WIN Reality with his father, Dan O'Dowd, and transitioned into running it full time as CEO
- **2018** — Retired from a six-year minor league career; WIN Reality launched in earnest
- **2022** — WIN Reality raised a $45M+ round led by Spectrum Equity; company grew toward ~100 employees
- **2023** — WIN Reality launched new VR baseball coaching features

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled WIN Reality into a leading VR athletic training platform
- Built a product adopted by a majority of MLB franchises and 200+ NCAA baseball and softball programs
- Raised a $45M+ growth round led by Spectrum Equity in 2022
- A joint WIN-MLB study found MLB players using the platform raised batting average 19% and on-base percentage 12%
- Played professional baseball as a catcher after a college career at Dartmouth

## Latest updates

- **2023-05** — WIN Reality launched new VR baseball coaching features
- **2022-06** — WIN Reality announced a $45M+ growth investment led by Spectrum Equity and plans to expand the team toward ~100 employees

## Links

- Website: https://winreality.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-o-dowd
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chris.odowd/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-o-dowd
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14