Mentioned in this article
- Chinese esports organization Victory Five (V5) has raised an over ¥100M RMB ($14.12M USD) Series A funding with undisclosed investors.
- V5 has signed a strategic partnership with Shenzhen Media Group (SZMG) to establish a “home venue” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
- V5 was founded in 2017, and joined China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in 2018 through bidding.
On Oct. 14, Chinese esports organization Victory Five (V5) and Shenzhen Media Group (SZMG) hosted a partnership press conference in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Multiple esports executives, political leaders, and investors of V5 attended the event, including Liu Wenbin, vice director of communication of Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China; Mario Ho Yau-kwan, founder of V5 and the president of the Macao Esports Association; Liu Zhangbiao, managing director of SZMG; and Wu Yan, esports ecosystem development of TJ Sports, the joint venue of Tencent and Riot Games.
At the event, V5 signed a strategic partnership deal with SZMG, and Ho announced that V5 parent company Shenzhen Weiwu Esports Technology had raised over ¥100M ($14.12M) in a Series A funding round. The announcement did not disclose individual investors. The Esports Observer has reached out for clarification and will update this article when more information is available.
The partnership between V5 and SZMG is focused on developing the esports industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area, and V5 will co-build its home venue in the area with SZMG. It’s likely that the home venue will be established in Shenzhen, as this is where SZMG is based, but the two organizations have not disclosed the specific city of the venue at the time of writing.
V5 made its first move into the esports industry by establishing a PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG) team in 2017, and joined China’s LPL in 2018 through bidding. Currently, the organization competes in League of Legends, PUBG, and Peacekeeper Elite (the Chinese version of PUBG Mobile). In addition, V5 is sponsored by Chinese livestreaming platform Douyu, esports application Da Sheng Esports, social media platform Bi Xin, computer brand Jingtian, gaming chair Anda SeaT, and keyboard brand Cherry.
