Epics.gg, a digital trading card platform for esports, has today announced that it has raised a $2m (£1.4m) seed round, led by BITKRAFT Esports Ventures.
This round saw participation from the likes of Jon Goldman’s GC Tracker Fund, Everblue Management, Hersh Interactive Group, Imagination Capital, Courtside Ventures and angel investors.
The interesting concept is designed by a team that has previously designed Xfire, LoLking.net, Esportsify and skinz.gg. The aim is to provide fans the rush, satisfaction and value of collecting trading cards for their favourite esports teams, players and influencers whilst also providing an integrated marketplace to enable users to buy and sell and thus build the “ultimate collection”. Each card will be individually designed, and include media, stats and also can include digital signatures and even in-game items.
Another feature of Epics.gg is that it gives collectors the ability to own “certified digital memorabilia” including in-game skins used by their favorite players in major esports events. Previously, there was no way to certify or prove that a skin was used by a specific esports star or influencer, limiting the collectable aspect of this valuable market. Now users can purchase a skin tied to a card, certified by Epics, and the company believes it will add a degree of credibility to the purchase.
The collectables market is close to $400 billion worldwide, with the sports collectables market accounting for the vast majority. Epics.gg targets the overlap in both markets with an innovative approach to the space. Gavin Weeks, Co-founder of Epics.gg commented: “We combined our favorite childhood hobby with modern technology for the ultimate user experience.
”We’re incredibly excited to enable fans and collectors to own a piece of esports history, including skins from Counterstrike.”
“We’ve seen several successful trading card companies in traditional sports and entertainment space, and, up until now, trading cards have been completely missing from the esports market. Epics.gg is the perfect combination of games, sports, and entertainment intellectual property with a digital and mobile first approach, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to invest in the team and help them bring this to market,” commented Jens Hilgers, BITKRAFT Esports Ventures Founding Partner.
“Now, as the esports craze grows, fans expect the highest level of interaction and engagement with their teams. The digital trading cards that Epics.gg has created are for the next generation of fans. We’re committed to investing in companies that cater to this generation and meet and exceed their expectations,” Goldman said.
Esports Insider says: This is certainly an interesting concept. It’s kind of like Panini stickers but for esports fans – right? It will be interesting to see if esports fans get on board with this and try and build a collection. It’ll also be interesting to see if players and/or teams get royalties from their cards if they are to be designed and how that will all work.
