UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports received investment in 2023 from Norway-based esports organisation 00Nation, Guild’s 2023 fiscal year results reveal.
00Nation invested £500,000 in Guild through the purchase of shares in the company. The identity of the investor and the exact invested amount had not been previously disclosed by Guild.
On October 30th 2023, Guild announced it had signed an agreement to raise ‘up to £1m’ from an unnamed esports brand. It said at the time that the signing of a subscription letter for up to 200m new shares would be used for growth and expansion, including in the MENA region.
Now, in its audited financial results for the year ending September 30th 2023 released today, Guild Esports revealed the identity of the investor as 00Nation AS.
00Nation is an esports organisation based in Oslo, Norway. Norwegian esports organisation Nordavind merged with 00Nation in 2021 and adopted the latter’s branding. Prior to its Nordavind merger, 00Nation had a notable presence in Brazil. HLTV reported that the organisation shut down its Brazilian operations in August 2023.
The organisation describes itself as a “lifestyle brand based on casual and competitive gaming, living inside the epicentre of youth culture,” per its X profile. It currently fields a European roster in Counter-Strike — as does Guild.
00Nation has partnerships with Omen, DNB and Xbox, according to its website, which says ‘Coming soon…’ and appears to be under construction.
In a release outlining its 2023 fiscal year results, Guild described 00Nation as a ‘strategic investor’ that will help embed its brand and services into the industry, as well as facilitate international expansion. It says 00Nation established a base in the UK in 2023, and will ‘continue to focus on youth culture while partnering with Guild on professional esports’.
The release discloses that 00Nation’s £500,000 investment comprised two tranches which have been delivered in full, making 00Nation a 13.5% shareholder in Guild.
Furthermore, it disclosed that Guild and 00Nation are exploring deeper ties. “Guild and 00Nation remain in active negotiations concerning the deeper strategic partnership and its accompanying third tranche of investment, which is dependent on the conclusion of negotiations,” the release reads.
Based in London, Guild Esports is a British esports organisation notably co-founded and part-owned by football star David Beckham. In November 2023, shortly following the £500,000 00Nation investment, Guild raised £130,000 in a ‘follow-on’ fundraise which included participation from the company’s executive management.
Guild Esports’ results for the year ending September 30th 2023 reveal the company increased revenues by 24% to £5.53m, and had a pre-tax loss of £4.5m. A full breakdown of the company’s financial results is available here.
