Getting in the game with Esports One
Why we led a $3MM round with the most promising “Esportspreneur”
By Vic Singh, Founding General Partner
Esports is no joke. In 2017 alone, the Esports Economy grew to $696 million, a year-on-year growth of 41.3%, with the number of enthusiasts expected to grow at least 50% by 2020 to approximately 286 million. The industry is extremely competitive as they’re a sophisticated bunch with high expectations from technology. This is why Esports One is quickly making a name for themselves.
And Eniac is getting in the game with Esports One! We are excited to announce we’ve co-led their $3MM seed round with XSeed Capital. Esports One, the brainchild of “Esportsprenuer” Matt Gunnin, has coupled their proprietary computer vision technology with machine learning and custom datasets, creating real-time modules that are reshaping the way fans can watch and engage with esports. The financing will support the team ramp up operations and continue hiring.
Beyond the hype, the Epsorts One team has the true grit that Eniac looks for in founders. Matt is an esports veteran and gamer at heart. While working at Rackspace, he launched his passion project: Leaguepedia, a resource for the community to see the history and stats for League of Legends. After it took off and sold, he went on to work at Unikrn, the leader in esports betting and Azubu, an esports entertainment network. After several years working across the industry, and still a big fan of the live engagement that traditional sports offers, Matt came to realize he could blow the roof off and bring interactive data to esports.
Matt has built a stellar team, who recently went through MIT Play Lab’s Accelerator. They are building some of the most cutting-edge technology, solving the difficult challenge of providing real-time analytics that requires a lot of scalability, handling hundreds of thousands of viewers customizations and a massive data set, without the without the need for a live editorial team. It’s a fully autonomous platform that’s utilizing computer vision, OCR and motion tracking to capture what is happening and then add the ‘Esports One’ layer on top of real-time game footage and replays. A step further, Esports One has the ability to then customize this data to the viewer — if the viewer is new to the game, they the data can be educational on what is happening. If they’re an expert, it can be tailored around their favorite players or stats they care most about.
Matt’s vision was to build out the company to be the gold standard for real-time data and analytics. He aims to provide value to both the spectator, giving users control of what info is being shown to them through the customizable platform, as well as be capture and present real time information for the broadcaster, being the ultimate tool to help them better engage their audience. (Esports One is already attracting attention from key game developers and broadcasters, so stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks!) Esports One is now reality through his hard work and determination, and the Eniac Team is excited to support their continued growth and success.
If you think you have what it takes to be a part of the winning team, check out their open roles.
Read more on Esports One in Forbes, VentureBeat and Esports Insider and don’t forget to sign for beta: https://esports.one
