AGORACOM Small-cap Investor Relations Blog

• 100 Thieves announced Tuesday that it completed its Series A funding round, which was co-led by SB Projects founder Scooter Braun and Grammy-winning artist Drake, who both become co-owners. Braun, who represents artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, also joins the company’s board
• Included in the round is Sequoia Capital, WondrCo, Marc Benioff, Drew Houston, Green Bay Ventures, Tao Capital and Advancit Capital

In November 2017, former professional gamer Matt “Nadeshot” Haag took to his YouTube channel to announce that his apparel company, 100 Thieves, received a multimillion-dollar investment from Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans owner Dan Gilbert, allowing him to expand into a full-fledged esports organization. Less than a year later, 100 Thieves is one of the fastest-rising brands in the industry, and Haag is partnering with a few more notable names.

100 Thieves announced Tuesday that it completed its Series A funding round, which was co-led by SB Projects founder Scooter Braun and Grammy-winning artist Drake, who both become co-owners. Braun, who represents artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, also joins the company’s board. Included in the round is Sequoia Capital, WondrCo, Marc Benioff, Drew Houston, Green Bay Ventures, Tao Capital and Advancit Capital.

Along with last year’s investment, 100 Thieves now has $25 million in total funding, and the new influx of capital will go toward building out its content team, acquiring new talent and continuing to expand its apparel line.

What attracted Braun and Drake was Haag’s broader scope for the organization. While other esports companies pivot to style themselves as lifestyle brands, 100 Thieves began with it in mind. The company does design and production in-house, and all four of its apparel drops thus far have sold out in less than 20 minutes.

“He has a clear vision for where esports is going and how to build an amazing brand within it, and that’s why I wanted to bet on him and 100 Thieves,” Scooter Braun says.

Haag himself has built up his own personal brand as Nadeshot, with 3.1 million followers on YouTube and 2.4 million on Twitter. In building 100 Thieves, he wants to enable his players to do the same for themselves—a skill he hopes to learn from his new co-owner, Braun.

“He’s really defined pop culture with the clients that he’s worked with and helped their careers over the last decade, and for us, it’s just unbelievable to be able to tap into that wisdom and that knowledge,” Haag says

Part of that focus is building out its team. 100 Thieves is still a young organization, with a total of four rosters. It was one of the new teams buying into the North American region of League of Legends at the start of 2018 for a reported $10 million. Signing star player Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black before the spring season began, 100 Thieves immediately made itself known with a second-place finish in the first split and a trip to the international World Championships in the fall. The company was also one of the earliest to enter the budding Fortnite competitive scene.

100 Thieves currently has 12 operational employees plus 35 players and coaches, but with the investment, the team is looking to add 10 people for its content team and to acquire more talent—like the recent signing of its Call of Duty roster and of streamer Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter, who has 500,000 followers on Twitch.

With Gilbert advising from the sports side and Braun and Drake from the side of entertainment, 100 Thieves’ president and COO John Robinson, believes they’ve “put together a dream team of collaborators.”

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