April 2019 saw several prominent investments in the esports industry, including eight-figure funding rounds closed by Gen.G. Esports 
and Team Liquid parent company aXiomatic , respectively, as well as a handful of prominent celebrity investors and preparations for a potential $500M USD initial public offering (IPO) from a major Chinese livestreaming service. In all, the month saw nearly $75M in disclosed investments in esports-related companies.
Gen.G and aXiomatic Raise Big
Credit: Gen.G Esports
Gen.G Esports had the largest disclosed esports investment of April, with a $46M funding round that included a wide array of participants. Prominent Silicon Valley funds such as New Enterprise Associates, Conductive Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Canaan Partners were all involved, along with actor Will Smith, LA Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong, and MasterClass co-founder David Rogier. New Enterprise Associates’ Rick Yang joined Gen.G’s board as part of the funding round.
In an interview with The Esports Observer, recently-promoted Chief Operating Officer Arnold Hur said that Gen.G is “continuing our global expansion,” with its second headquarters in Los Angeles expected to be completed by July. The team will also establish its own academy program, particularly for games such as Overwatch and League of Legends , to help develop more of its own player talent. Hur also said that Gen.G is keen on franchised leagues.
Related Article: Gen.G COO on $46M Investment: ‘We’re Continuing Our Global Expansion’
Additionally, Team Liquid parent company aXiomatic disclosed $21.5M in new funding via an SEC filing, although it did not list the investors and the company has yet to comment on the news. aXiomatic brought in more than $50M in disclosed funding in 2018, including a $26M round in October that included NBA legend and Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan.
More Celebrities Enter Esports
Credit: Splyce
Will Smith is just one of the big-name celebrities to invest in an esports team in April. The month saw a few other prime examples, with Toronto Defiant and Splyce
parent company OverActive Media Group (OMG) adding a couple of notable figures to its ownership group. First was Canadian Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, who will collaborate with OMG on content. Later in the month, OMG added prominent Miami nightclub and restaurant owner David Grutman.
NBA player Meyers Leonard of the Portland Trail Blazers confirmed his investment in FaZe Clan
in April, which came a couple of days after he was seen wearing team-branded shoes during a game. Leonard said he will work with FaZe Clan to develop content this summer. Luminosity Gaming also had a music industry addition in late April, with rapper and singer Daystar “Tory Lanez” Peterson joining the ownership group and becoming a global ambassador for the team.
Douyu Eyes a U.S. IPO
Credit: Douyu
Douyu
, a popular Chinese livestreaming platform, filed a preliminary IPO application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 22. The company hopes to raise up to $500M to try and strengthen its place in the esports ecosystem, pull in more viewers and streamers, and expand internationally.
Tencent Holdings invested $632M in Douyu in March 2018, and has repeatedly invested in the company since 2016. It now owns 40.1% of the outstanding ordinary shares in Douyu via its Nectarine Investment subsidiary. Tencent has also invested heavily (reportedly $461.6M) in rival Chinese livestreaming service Huya
, which itself raised $180M in a U.S. IPO in May 2018 as well as an additional $327M in a follow-on offering in early April 2019.
Other Investments
Credit: GoMeta
BITKRAFT Esports Ventures
led a $6M seed round for application building company GoMeta, which provides platforms for users to create, collaborate on, and sell applications. The round featured investments from “more than two dozen” angel and venture capital investors, according to the company, including Zynga founder Mark Pincus and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
Although GoMeta doesn’t have an esports-specific focus at this point, BITKRAFT—which raised $125M to establish a venture capital fund in December—sees the broader potential of the budding service.
“GoMeta isn’t a core esports company, obviously, but one of the ways we think about our own investment strategy is [to look for] great companies that have really interesting games and esports use cases, but [also] where there could be an even bigger opportunity in other areas,” BITKRAFT Founding Partner Scott Rupp told The Esports Observer.
Early in April, Tencent Holdings announced plans to issue bonds worth $6B, with net proceeds of about $5.98B expected from the sale. Tencent owns League of Legends developer Riot Games
in its entirety, as well as Honor of Kings and its King Pro League in China. The company also has stakes in game publishers such as Epic Games , Activision Blizzard , and Ubisoft.
Additionally, King Pro League team YTG Gaming announced in late March (as reported in early April) that it had raised nearly ¥10M RMB ($1.49M) in series A funding. Chinese venture capital firm Yingdong Capital co-led the round.
