Singapore-headquartered e-sports startup Ampverse has secured US$12 million in a Series A round of investment, led by global investment fund Falcon Capital.
Existing investors Vulpes and Gandel Invest also participated. Gaming, media, sports and e-sports industries veterans, including Rob Gilby (former Disney SEA MD), David NG (CEO GoGame), Michael Patent (CEO Culture Group), Marcus John ( former VP Lagadere and Wolfpack Fund, founded by former IMG and Group M executives), also joined the round.
Ampverse will use the new funds to expand into Indonesia and the Philippines, acquire new e-sports teams and scale its play-to-earn business unit. This includes acquiring play-to-earn (P2E) guilds as the company moves into the P2E space to complement its existing e-sports IP pillar.
Also Read: Play-to-earn: Understanding the popularity of Axie Infinity
CEO Ferdinand Gutierrez said: “Ampverse has witnessed tremendous growth over the last twelve months, with 125 per cent revenue growth and expansion into the Vietnamese and Indian markets, while also strengthening our e-sports assets portfolio. We will utilise these funds to move forward to solidify our position within Southeast Asia by continuing our expansion into Indonesia and the Philippines. We will continue scaling our e-sports and new play-to-earn business unit through further M&A.”
According to him, the Indonesian and the Philippine markets are strategically crucial, given the dynamics of their e-sports and P2E markets and the popularity of certain games in these countries. They will complement the existing titles its portfolio of teams compete in.
“Both markets share several commonalities in terms of the popularity of certain game titles and their buoyant streaming markets. Indonesia is evidently a significant market due to its sheer scale. Furthermore, its high e-commerce adoption presents a huge opportunity to provide fans with engaging gaming products and experiences,” Gutierrez told e27. “With the Philippines specifically, we see some fantastic gaming talent emerging from the region who can cut through and become mainstream celebrities, thus presenting some exciting opportunities to develop original content and IP.”
Ampverse owns and operates e-sports teams across Asia, including top brand ambassadors and pro players that sit at the intersection of gaming and popular culture. It owns some of the world’s best e-sports teams, influential gaming talent, P2E guilds, and a series of experiential-driven products and gaming collectibles.
Also Read: How play-to-earn is fueling the next wave of blockchain adoption
Its client base includes Disney, Samsung, McDonalds, Nestle, Lazada and Porsche.
Ampverse has offices throughout Southeast Asia and India.
The gaming and e-sports market is growing exponentially, not just within South and Southeast Asia but globally. NFT adoption in Southeast Asia ranks as some of the highest markets globally. The Philippines ranks first with 32 per cent ownership, Thailand second with 27 per cent, and Malaysia third with 24 per cent. Vietnam rounds off the top five worldwide with 17 per cent NFT ownership, just below the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 23 per cent.
“P2E game adoption is also on a high growth trajectory in the wake of the breakthrough game Axie Infinity, a Vietnam-made P2E game that generated over US$2.3 billion in sales and attracted some 2.5 million players. Since then, we have seen even more P2E games surface in the market with high potential to drive fast user adoption,” he said.
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