Tagged: active-play

David Lee is the Co-founder and CEO of Nex, a San Jose-based motion gaming company that makes the Nex Playground - a palm-sized AI console that uses motion-tracking cameras to turn living rooms into active play spaces. A Hong Kong native and second-time founder, Lee previously co-founded EditGrid (acquired by Apple in 2008), spent over eight years as a Senior Engineering Manager at Apple leading iWork for iCloud, then left in 2017 to build Nex. The company has raised $40M across three rounds from investors including the NBA, Will Smith's Dreamers Fund, and Blue Pool Capital, with celebrity backers like Steve Nash, Jeremy Lin, Mark Cuban, Simu Liu, and Thierry Henry. Nex Playground launched in December 2023 at $179, sold 600,000+ units in 2025, and landed on Fast Company's Most Innovative Gaming Companies of 2026 and TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2026.