- BLAST has raised €12.5M EUR ($13.5M USD) in a financing round.
- The round was led by the co-founder of Rocket Software and Vækstfonden.
- The company has acquired rights to facilitate Dota 2 events.
Esports competition organizer BLAST raised €12.5M ($13.5M) in funding from various technology and venture capital companies. The round was led by Johan Gedda, co-founder of Rocket Software, and returning investor Vækstfonden, the Danish state’s investment fund. Further existing investors European VC funds Creandum, Heartcore Capital, and Maki helped complete the round.
A Denmark-based company, BLAST is an esports entertainment company that specializes in broadcast studio shows, arena events, and online content. The company’s broadcast products can be seen on global TV networks, as well as digital platforms such as Twitch, YouTube, and its own broadcast platform.
“This round of funding gives us enough strength to go forward and carry on producing in the way that has been successful thus far for us,” BLAST CEO Robbie Douek told The Esports Observer. “This allows us to pursue a diversification of our portfolio in some capacity focusing on technology.“
Mostly known for its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive competitive tournaments across seven events and five continents, BLAST has recently acquired another competitive title in Valve’s massive online battle arena (MOBA), Dota 2.
“We already had relationships with OG, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Liquid. It was very clear that having seen and met and interacted with those teams, that there was opportunity there and I could see fandom,” Douek said. “I asked the team if we could do more with Dota 2. Can we do what we’ve done with CS and bring it up a notch in terms of production and output and entertainment? Yes. We can do it. We can try and make it happen.”
Now with CS:GO and Dota 2 in the company’s portfolio, BLAST is looking to use a portion of this funding to explore and bring to production new technology to enhance viewer experience. Because of the suspensions and cancellations of tournaments and events associated with novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Douek believes there is in fact a market for online events.
“We have a really supportive group of investors, current investors and now with the new additions, we’re going to go harder and foster technology to create an even more amazing viewer experience.”
During this pandemic, BLAST has increased production hours and introduced multiple new tournaments, content series, and commercial partnerships. The company has a full slate of events from April 30-June 21.
“We’ve learned our lesson when we kind of upset the applecart a little bit. So we know we’re going to do it. We’re not going to go too far out,“ Douek said. “We’re going to do things cleverly, and make sure things work. Hopefully that will pay off.”
