Panama City, Panama, 3rd March, 2022,
Ignite Tournaments Secures $10M for Play-to-Earn Esports Tournament and Streaming Infrastructure – Ignite Tournaments announces today that they have successfully secured a total of $10 million financing from strategic investors to build the world’s first mobile play-to-earn (“P2E”) esports tournament and streaming platform.
The $10 million raised reflects two crucial investment rounds: a $3 million seed round, completed December 2021, was co-led by Yield Guild Games and Ascensive Assets, with participation by Mechanism Capital, Arca Funds, Skyvision Capital, and multiple funds and angel investors.
A $7 million strategic round closed in February 2022 was co-led by Animoca Brands, Infinity Ventures Crypto, and Moon Holdings Fund. These new investor leads bring decades of experience in the gaming industry across both traditional and blockchain gaming.
“Animoca Brands has built its success by investing in and partnering with projects with strong fundamentals both in and out of the gaming industry,” states Robby Yung, CEO of North American Operations for Animoca Brands. “It is under this exciting context that we are eager to both invest in as well as to explore integrating our games with Ignite Tournaments.”
Thomas Vu, Former Head of Creative and Franchise at Riot Games and Partner at Moon Holdings Fund, adds: “We are bullish on Ignite Tournaments. When I led multiple strategic efforts at Riot Games, I always thought that a ‘plug-and-play’ tournament would benefit players. It was inevitable that someone would build such a platform. I am delighted to see what Krystal and Tony have built, and look forward to supporting them in play-to-earn and traditional gaming.”
Ignite Tournaments’ platform bridges traditional gaming with web 3.0 through its ability to turn any pre-existing mobile game into a play-to-earn game. Their model will transform the esports industry and lower the barrier for entry by providing the tools of P2E tournament organisation to gamers worldwide. Payouts come in the form of cryptocurrency and NFTs, and can be staked for additional rewards. Development of web 3.0 infrastructure to improve esports payouts is also underway.
Brian Lu, Venture Capital Investor at Infinity Venture Crypto, additionally states: “Krystal and I were both competitive gamers, ranked #1 globally in different MZ games—I became the Emperor in Game of War, and Krystal was the #1 defensive “trap” player in Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. It’s clear to me as both a former competitive gamer and VC investor that Ignite Tournaments will completely transform competitive mobile gaming. I am co-leading this round because I want to see Ignite Tournaments add that immense value to all games worldwide; to both IVC’s game portfolio and beyond.”
Other strategic investors include Genesis Block Ventures, SevenX Ventures, Longhash Ventures, ROK Capital, Huobi Labs, Akatsuki, MH Carnegie, D1 Ventures, Ghaf Capital, and Morningstar Ventures. Jeffrey “Jiho” Zirlin, co-founder of Axie Infinity, and Looren Roosendaal, co-founder of Ember Sword and PlanetQuest also participated in the round as angel investors.
Ignite Tournaments launched its alpha test on February 28, 2022. A web app that will support PC games is also presently under development.
About Ignite Tournaments
Ignite Tournaments is a play-to-earn tournament infrastructure provider and mobile gaming ecosystem built on Moonbeam. They are building the world’s first play-to-earn esports tournament organisation and streaming application for mobile games that pay players in cryptocurrency and NFTs.
Contacts
Head of Marketing
- Casey James
- marketing@ignitetournaments.com
