Nations Ventures, a venture capital fund majority-owned by We Are Nations, has made a ‘strategic investment’ in real-time platform and sports marketplace Obsesh.
Obsesh’s platform allows fans to connect with athletes and personalities in sport, as well as in esports and gaming. Some of the activations available include receiving tips from professional athletes, teaching a range of skills, and providing training advice.
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According to the release, Nations Ventures’s investment is expected to go towards product development, the marketplace’s launch, and athlete acquisitions. Financial figures have not been disclosed, however, the venture capital fund has revealed that it is a cash investment.
Patrick Mahoney, Nations Ventures General Partner, commented: “The Obsesh team is well-positioned in the sports market and has taken a unique approach to a historically ignored group of skilled sports talent. At Nations, we look for companies with a great product, strong team, and a go-to market strategy, and we see Obsesh as having the ability to effectively accelerate across both sports and esports.
“In addition, we saw right away the synergy with Obsesh and several of our portfolio companies including Insiders, Echelon and A8 esports. We are also already implementing We Are Nations as their scalable merch solution for both retail and custom athlete integrations.”
Obsesh is co-founded by Tracy Benson, formerly of Home Depot, Best Buy and Monster, and Jonalyn Morris, who led market strategies, ambassador programmes, and sponsorships for the likes of Beats by Dre, Loot Crate, and Sony.
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As of this writing, Obsesh does not have any esports athletes listed on its platform. However, the website does have an esports section where you can face-off against sports personalities in video games.
Tracy Benson, CEO and Co-founder of Obsesh, commented: “From the minute we met Patrick, Dan Cardell and the team at Nations, we knew there was a shared vision to not only build Obsesh as the number-one platform for sports fans, but to take the platform into esports.
“Nations without a doubt hit on the manpower, network and industry knowledge to help us scale our business and accelerate our vision to become the number-one go-to marketplace for all sports.”
Some of the athletes available on the platform include two-time world champion triathlete Siri Lindley, freestyle snowboarder Erika Vikander, and professional surfer Anthony Walsh.
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Esports Insider says: Obsesh certainly has the potential to be applied to esports. Nations Ventures’s investment will not only provide financial backing, but it will help Obsesh integrate into the esports industry. This could ultimately benefit esports, as it may provide more fan engagement opportunities and opens up more revenue streams for esports athletes and personalities.
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