E-sports brand Fnatic has secured USD19 million USD in a Series A funding round led by tech entrepreneur Lev Leviev of LVL1 Group, who also joins the board, plus new and continued support from investors including transatlantic venture capital firm Beringea, BlackPine, Unbound and Joi Ito.
With this investment, Fnatic will enter the next phase of its global expansion, aim to strengthen involvement in tier-one leagues, including the League of Legends European Championships, launch new product categories in its e-sports equipment subsidiary including a new audio line, as well as scaling up resources to deliver and deploy marketing efforts and reach for brands on an international scale.
To support the company’s rapid growth a new leadership team is being appointed, former Mercedes AMG F1 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nick Fry named Chairman, serial entrepreneur and founder of Affectv Glen Calvert appointed COO and Fnatic’s founder, Sam Mathews, to retake the CEO position. Former CEO Wouter Sleijffers steps down after four years at the helm, driving significant growth for the brand under his leadership including expanding the global team, opening new verticals and reinforcing Fnatic’s position as a leader on the competitive stage.
Lead investor Lev Leviev says “e-sports is the future of entertainment as well as one of the most dynamic and exciting emerging industries out there. Fnatic has established itself as a driving force both on the competitive stage and as a global business in e-sports, I’m excited to be part of the next chapter as Fnatic scales into a global lifestyle brand.”
Karen McCormick, Chief Investment Officer of Beringea, says: “Too often, investors highlight e-sports as an ‘up-and-coming’ and ‘burgeoning’ industry. It should be clear that e-sports has arrived and now represents one of the world’s leading entertainment sectors.
“E-sports already has more viewers in the US than the NHL and MLS, and it will surpass both the MLB and the NBA by 2021. The thrill and suspense of e-sports – both online and through the countless live events hosted around the world – represents entertainment that now directly competes with the world’s leading sports and has won over huge swathes of younger viewers.”
“Sam and his team at Fnatic have created one of the most exciting, competitive, and durable brands in the industry, and remain leaders on a global platform. We are hugely excited and proud to be one of the early institutional investors to be entering the industry, and feel honoured to be joining a great group of investors to be part of the Fnatic story going forward.”
“This is a pivotal moment in the evolution of Fnatic I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved over the past 15 years and now is the time to build on this strong foundation to realise our vision of being the leading global e-sports brand. To have such high caliber investors is telling of the potential they see in Fnatic and our future. We would not be at this point without the invaluable contribution of Wouter over the last four years, we are extremely grateful and sincerely wish him all the best,” adds new CEO, Sam Mathews.
