(L-R) EVOS CSO Ang Teng Jen, CEO Ivan Yeo, CMO Michael Wijaya, CBO Hartman Harris Christian, and COO Wesley Yiu
EVOS Esports, an e-sports platform owned and operated by Singapore-based Attention Holdings, has secured US$12 million in a Series B investment round, led by Korea Investment Partners (KIP).
Mirae Asset Ventures, Woowa Brothers, Indogen Capital, existing investor Insignia Ventures Partners, and several family offices across Southeast Asia and Japan, also participated.
The money will primarily be used for building out its tech capabilities, an EVOS spokesperson told e27.
This round comes less than a year after EVOS raised US$4.4 million in Series A funding from Insignia and several angel investors.
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EVOS was founded in 2017 with the aim to facilitate competitive e-sports teams across six major games. It trains and supports 13 teams comprising 62 players across five countries.
E-sports influencers form the pillar of EVOS’s live-streaming and content platforms. According to its Chief Strategic Officer Ang Teng Jen, its top influencers earn around US$30,000 to US$60,000 a month. To date, it claims to have worked with 400 gaming influencers.
To manage its influencers, EVOS provides streaming contracts, brand endorsement deals, and offline event gigs to influencers, as well as managing their social media channels and creating content for them. EVOS’ influencers have a total of over two million followers on their social media platforms with more than 34 million subscribers to their channels.
As of today, EVOS claims to have worked with more than 150 brands, including Lazada, Gareno, and Lenovo. It also partners with e-commerce brands to create e-sports content on the brands’ platforms, such as e-sports game shows and online user tournaments with professional players.
The company claims its revenue from the live-streaming arm has doubled since the start of 2020 and continues to peak month after month, with the its overall revenue surpassing its 2019 numbers despite the pandemic.
EVOS has grown to be the sixth largest e-sports brand globally, it said.
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Ivan Yeo, CEO of Attention, said: “Global e-sports revenue is projected to grow at 15 per cent CAGR, with our region showing the highest growth rate at 24 per cent CAGR. As the countries we are operating in are still largely untapped, we intend to maximise this opportunity and are well positioned to launch the region’s first ever e-sports platform.”
Sang-Ho Park, Executive Director of KIP, who will be joining Attention’s Board of Directors, said: “E-sports is currently one of the fastest growing industries and Attention has managed to establish themselves as the most advanced e-sports platform across Asia.”
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