XY Gaming raises $2.5 million for its global esports tournament platform

XY Gaming has raised $2.5 million for its global esports tournament platform. With XY Gaming, players compete for cash prizes.

San Francisco-based XY Gaming has already hosted more than 16,000 tournaments and 12.5 million games to date. KB Partners and Varga Capital co-led the seed funding round.

Catering to all skill levels, XY Gaming organizes asynchronous esports tournaments using its proprietary technology, to create a convenient and hassle-free global arena for gamers to compete in some of the world’s top games, including League of Legends and Dota 2.

Support for Fortnite, Rocket League, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and more are coming soon. The company has worked with HyperX, GFuel, PaySafeCards, Sennheiser, and Pinnacle in sponsorships.

“The majority of the esports market has few opportunities to compete for cash prizes,” said XY Gaming CEO Aaron Fletcher, in a statement. “Through simple, free, and one-click to enter and play, our platform enables gamers of all skill levels to take their gaming to the next level in a fair and secure environment.”

Above: XY Gaming logo

Image Credit: XY Gaming

The worldwide gaming market includes 2.5 billion active gamers, but esports has only targeted the top tier.

While most tournaments target the top 1 percent of top-tier gamers, XY Gaming wants to create a space for all gamers who want to play competitively. The company automatically tracks players’ in-game statistics and awards scores based on performance.

Payouts are distributed via Paypal, credit cards, or credit for purchases in the marketplace. Unlike some tournaments which only divvy up earnings to players in the top 1%, XY Gaming divides cash awards between 30% to 40% of all participants in a tournament to increase the likelihood that everyone has a chance to win something.

XY Gaming also offers brands engagement and advertising access to its more than 100,000 registered users. The company will use the new capital to enhance its advertising offering by developing a new branded tournaments model and creating a new advertising vertical, to better enable direct brand engagement.

“Numerous brands have indicated a big disparity between what current tournament platforms offer and what brands expect, and I am excited that we now have the capital to grow XY Gaming and create a new marketing vertical aimed at gamers that is global, inclusive and scalable,” siad Fletcher.

Competitors include GameBattles, Players’ Lounge, Faceit, ESL and Battlefy.

Additional funds will also be used to expand their team, create marketing campaigns, partnerships and influencer sponsorships to grow the site, and add new well-known game titles including Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Rocket League. The company has eight employees.