North American esports organisation Sentinels could be about to launch a fundraising campaign in partnership with equity fundraising platform StartEngine, with the company looking to sell up to 4%.
Fans who buy in currently on Sentinels’ investor website will not be able to use the platform to see how many other investors have bought in, how much capital Sentinel has raised, or compare the round directly with alternatives. Sentinals has valued the organisation at $30.09m (~£23.7m.)
‘Reserving’ shares through this system, even by paying money, is also regulated differently to formally buying them. Sentinels is not legally compelled to go through with the fundraising process unless it agrees to it and receives approval from the SEC.
The pre-fundraising round currently allows fans to pre-purchase up to 4% of Sentinels, with a minimum investment of $300 (~£230) to net them a portion of the $1.2m (~£927,000) offering. To tempt an audience of retail investors, Sentinels is offering several novelty perks to fans who purchase increasingly vast proportions.
‘Super fans’ who invest in the first 72 hours gain 15% bonus shares, while fans can earn additional perks for investing more money. $500 (~£384) nets Sentinels investors a free T-shirt, while the top ‘Master Perk’ tier costing $50,000 (~£38,400) will allow investors a tour of Sentinels HQ, participate in virtual stakeholder meetings, attend live matches, and interact physically and online with Sentinels’ roster of professional players.
The fundraiser is the second attempt by Sentinels to raise money by providing compelling perks to its fanbase. This year, Sentinels has also launched its own fan platform called ‘SEN Society’. The platform charges fans $5 (~£4) per month for the opportunity to buy special merchandise, access digital offers, and attend in-person activations.
Sentinels are not the first esports organisation to turn to institutional crowdfunding to raise money. Now-defunct esports social media app Juked launched two fundraisers and in 2020 Fnatic launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, generating £1.7m.
