This is a roundup of the most important esports investment stories from June 2023.
June was a positive month for investments, with a respite from the usual bad news that often dominates headlines. We saw GGTech secure an investment, Guild enter simulation racing and G1 acquire a gaming PC brand all in the same month. The biggest story was arguably MOBA Network acquiring Porofessor parent company Wargraphs.
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Spotlighted story
M.O.B.A. Network acquires Porofessor owner Wargraphs for €50m
Gaming media company M.O.B.A. Network (MOBA Network) announced the acquisition of Wargraphs, the company behind League of Legends companion app Porofessor, for up to €50m (~£42.8m).
The acquisition will see Porofessor join MOBA’s list of online communities such as Leaguespy, Dotafire, Counterstats and others. The company noted that the acquisition will help it grow its portfolio of supported games.
G1 acquires custom PC brand Evolve PCs
North American esports organisation Gamers First (G1) announced the acquisition of Evolve PCs, a company specialising in creating custom PCs.
The aim for G1 is to diversify its income streams, helping the organisation make steps towards profitability in the near future. Evolve’s team of six employees also joined G1, together with all of its branding and inventory.
GGTech Entertainment secures $12.4m investment
Esports company GGTech Entertainment secured $12.4m (~£9.75m) in investment from growth equity firm Glisco Partners and investment management company Heart Beat.
According to a release, the investment will focus on GGTech’s entry into North America, as well as propelling its presence in Europe, MENA and LATAM. Further fueling GGTech’s expansion, the company recently acquired UK-based university esports company NUEL.
Guild Esports completes £600,000 fundraise to enter sim racing
UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports announced the completion of a £622,200 fundraise.
As a result, Guild Esports will use the capital to help facilitate investment into Guild Racing, the organisation’s sim racing roster. In addition to bolstering its sim racing roster, the funds will also be used to ‘execute existing strategy’ as well as help day to day running of the company.
Qlan raises $200k in pre-seed funding
Indian esports and gaming social media platform Qlan announced a $200,000 (~£158,266) pre-seed round, led by Marwah Sports, CIIE.CO and Faad Network.
The money will be used to scale the company and establish a product-market fit ahead of possible new rounds in the future, according to a release. The investment has been led by the Marwah Group, a commercial real estate company; incubator and startup accelerator CIIE.CO; and investor network Faad Network Limited.
Saudi Esports Federation launches $5m scheme to reward cross-title performance at Gamers8
The Saudi Esports Federation launched Gamers8 Club Awards, a fund to reward esports organisations competing at its esports festival Gamers8.
The fund will distribute a total of $5m (~£4m) in prize money to esports organisations that place well across multiple titles at the festival. The rewards are in addition to the festival’s record-breaking $45m (~£38m) prize pool, which is split between several esports tournaments taking place at the Saudi Esports Federation-run festival.
