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Esports Entertainment Group $GMBL – #Esports Company #100Thieves Raises $35 Million In Series B $TECHF $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:16 AM on Tuesday, July 16th, 2019
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Esports Company 100 Thieves Raises $35 Million In Series B

  • 100 Thieves, the esports company co-owned by Grammy-winning artist Drake, talent manager Scooter Braun, billionaire Dan Gilbert and former pro gamer Matt “Nadeshot” Haag, announced today that it’s closed a $35 million Series B.
  • Funding round was led by New York-based private equity and growth investment firm Artist Capital Management. Its chief investment officer Josh Dienstag will join the 100 Thieves board of directors.

Matt Perez Forbes Staff

100 Thieves, the esports company co-owned by Grammy-winning artist Drake, talent manager Scooter Braun, billionaire Dan Gilbert and former pro gamer Matt “Nadeshot” Haag, announced today that it’s closed a $35 million Series B.

The funding round was led by New York-based private equity and growth investment firm Artist Capital Management. Its chief investment officer Josh Dienstag will join the 100 Thieves board of directors. The rest of the round is made up of previous backers like Braun and Gilbert along with a new investment from Aglaé Ventures, the investing arm of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy-owner Groupe Arnault.

The Series B brings the company’s total funding to $60 million. Other investors include Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and venture firm Sequoia Capital. Forbes last fall estimated the company was worth $90 million after a single year of competing.

The fresh capital will go toward a 15,000-square-foot training facility and headquarters in Los Angeles, as well as for expanding into new games and increasing its apparel production.

The facility will be the “center of the universe for all things 100 Thieves,” according to Haag, the company’s founder and CEO, as well as a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum. “We’ve grown a lot in this past year…so it’s finally time to put our flag in the ground and make some place our permanent home.”

Settling in as early as this October, the offices will house the company’s staff including players, coaches and content creators, and will serve not just as a production studio and training space, but also as a retail storefront for fans. Unlike many esports companies, 100 Thieves has made its retail arm a significant piece of its overall revenue. All of its seasonal apparel drops have sold out in 20 minutes or less, with each one selling faster and with 50% more product. Its most recent sale in April brought in over half-a-million dollars after selling out in five minutes.

“I don’t think it’s even scratched the surface of what it can be in the future,” Haag says.

The demand during 100 Thieves product launches speaks to the company’s business model—mixing competitive esports teams with a stable of popular influencers like Jack “CouRage” Dunlop and Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter. The tactic might prove useful if talk of a soon-to-burst esports bubble becomes a reality.

“We’ve insulated our business in way where, this bubble that everyone continues to talk about, if it were to pop or there were less interest from investors or sponsors or whatever the case may be, we’re not going to live and die by esports and esports alone,” Haag says. “If esports were to disappear tomorrow, we’d still have a really great business strategy in my opinion.”

Not to say Haag isn’t still “all-in” on competitive gaming. According to Haag, 100 Thieves boasts the second-highest payroll in the North American League of Legends Championship Series, and part of the new investment is meant for expansion in the space. One title particularly linked to 100 Thieves is Call of Duty, around which its publisher Activison Blizzard is planning a city-based league with franchised team slots reportedly priced at $25 million, according to ESPN. Haag, who came up as a Call of Duty pro and whose team’s first championship came in the game earlier this year, says “We’re definitely still thinking through it.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2019/07/16/esports-company-100-thieves-raises-35-million-in-series-b/#120c3f334b15

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