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Esports Players League secures $1m in funding

Date Type Companies involved Size
March 5th, 2020 investment $1m
Esports Players League secures $1m in funding

Pro-games firm the Esports Players League (ESPL) had landed $1m in seed funding.

The round was led by venture capital firm 500 Startups, though there's no word on how much the company chipped in or what other parties had invested in the funding.

This round of investment is intended to help ESPL move into ten countries with tournaments and platforms in its first year on the market. The company was founded in 2019.

“We are delighted to have secured this support from the highly-regarded team at 500 Startups, and it serves as a very encouraging endorsement of ESPL’s vision for the future of esports and our achievements to date,” ESPL CEO Michael Broda said.

“Our team is committed to delivering esports as mainstream entertainment to the global online gamer community and, in order to achieve this, we require the support of a number of robust global partners. As such, we are very excited to work with 500 Startups and future investees of 500 Startups that are aligned with our esports mission as our relationship continues to evolve.”

500 Startups managing partner Khailee Ng added: “Esports is poised to surpass traditional sports. Research suggests that the global esports audience is expected to reach 645 million in 2020, surpassing baseball, rugby, and American football. ESPL’s founding team has seen and been part of esports’ growth. As with sports, it is inevitable that players in all countries and levels demand avenues to compete, participate and watch. We’ve reviewed many esports business models and found this team and their vision most compelling. We look forward to supporting them in their global journey."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.