In a pre-seed investment deal, the San Francisco esports company Juked raised $800,000 (£616,960). The raised funds are used to “speed up the implementation of their one-stop-goals.”
Juked will help expand its product portfolio to include ratings, statistical information, aggregation of data, team channels and monetising initiatives. 500 Startups, an accelerator located in San Francisco, is leading the funding round.
Some investors include Blizzard Entertainment co-founder MikeMorhaime, BlizzarEsports co-founder, Amy Morhaime, Blizzard Esports former vice president, Mike Lee and Albert Lee co-founders, and Cameron MacMillan and Cal Spears, co-founders of RotoGrinders.com.
Juked was created last year and launched its open beta by Ben Goldhaber and Chris Chan. The platform adds streams from various titles of the sport and has a calendar which provides a consolidated view of what is happening in relation to events.
At the start of the beta, Goldhaber said “There has been an exponential growth in esport over the past decade but the barrier between being a game fan, a player or a squad, and the likelihood of pursuing the sport, is still too great. We designed Juked as a single comprehensive destination with the purpose of reducing the entry obstacle to sports. Our vision is to help each sports community grow because it will be a win – win for fans, developers, publishers and players to see a successful scene.
