Esports tournament operator Matcherino announced this week that it has secured an additional $1.5 million in “Series A-1” financing, GeekWire reports. Galaxy Digital and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital invested in the Seattle-based firm for the first time.
Other participants in this round include Seven Peaks Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, aXiomatic and Vulcan Capital. To-date, Matcherino, which was founded in 2015, has raised nearly $8 million in investment capital.
Matcherino’s software facilitates esports tournament management. Organizers can host gaming competitions on its platform, which also enables sponsors such as Gamestop, 24 Hour Fitness, Bubba Burger and others to reach its user base. Matcherino CEO John Maffei revealed to GeekWire that the software is powering 500 tournaments a month and dismissed talk of an esports bubble as global esports revenue is expected to exceed $1 billion in 2019.
“Navigating the esports operating landscape has been an inefficient process for brands, players, tournament organizers, and fans alike, leaving billions of unrealized dollars on the table. We see an opportunity with Matcherino not only to remedy these inefficiencies, but to open these long-untouched revenue streams for years to come.”
“Fan growth and interest in esports is on the rise and will continue to grow,” he told GeekWire. He explained that monetizing tournaments is a major challenge for esports tournament organizers. By unlocking new revenue streams, Matcherino offers the chance for advertisers to be involved beyond mere brand impressions.
“Matcherino offers brands the opportunity to reach esports fans across dozens of titles and hundreds of tournaments each month and establish relationships with esports fans,” Maffei said to GeekWire.
“Navigating the esports operating landscape has been an inefficient process for brands, players, tournament organizers, and fans alike, leaving billions of unrealized dollars on the table,” Sean Sang Sub Lee, vice president of Early Stage Investing at Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, said in a statement. “We see an opportunity with Matcherino not only to remedy these inefficiencies, but to open these long-untouched revenue streams for years to come.”