Sports ipo ustakahashiventurebeat—Faze Clan, the gaming and esports lifestyle and media brand, goes public today in a deal valued at $725 million.
The company vies to be the forerunner of youth culture, even if it struggles to make money as we head into a potential recession. [Update: The stock opened at $13.02 a share and fell 29% to $9.23 a share in early trading]
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Rivalry raises $20 million for sports and esports online betting
Rivalry has raised $20 million for its sports betting and esports business. The company has a mobile and PC platform that makes it easy to place bets on sports ipo ustakahashiventurebeat and esports matches.
Rivalry’s average customer is 25, and the company is looking for esports and sports fans under 30. Rivalry currently has an overseas gambling license with the Isle of Man, allowing it to facilitate gambling in locations where there is no domestic license in place. Right now, that means it doesn’t operate in the US, but it’s working to get licenses to do so, CEO Steven Salz said in an interview with GamesBeat. Latin America, Russia, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe are the most significant rival markets. “We are an internationally regulated sportsbook, and the business has grown 15% per month since we started,” Salz said. “We are looking to create products for a younger population.”
Investors in the oversubscribed round include institutional investors from Canada, the United States, the European Union, and a significant operator of land-based casinos. The Toronto-based company has yet to say who all of those investors are and sees it as a step toward an IPO later this year. Esports veterans Billy Levy and Zack Zeldin act as advisors and investors.
With the new funds, Salz said the company could accelerate its expansion plans through new licensing and gray markets under its existing regulatory regime. It will also enable new product development and help the company deliver what it calls the safest and most engaging sports ipo ustakahashiventurebeat betting experience worldwide.
The DeanBeat: GamesBeat Summit Next 2022’s packed agenda — 103 speakers and a troublemaker
We’ve got an action-packed schedule for the GamesBeat Summit Next 2022 event on October 25-26, with great speakers like Snow Crash author Neal Stephenson. Spots are still available right now on our in-person/online events website, and you can use code Dean50 for 50% off.
We’ve assembled 104 speakers, including a troublemaker, for our in-person event, which will be streamed—or maybe more. Who is the troublemaker? I’ll let you understand that. More than half of our speakers come from diverse backgrounds, helping us once again deliver on our promise to host diverse, inclusive, and equitable events.
We have a wide selection of compelling speakers. Whatever you want, we have a session for you and a gaming leader network like no other.
Our list includes Will Wright, Peter Levin, Jeri Ellsworth, Mark Pincus, Susan Bonds, Matthew Ball, Herman Narula, Ada Duan, Yat Siu, John Gaeta, James Gwertzman, Uri Marchand, Peter Levin, Chris Early, Tony Parisi, Yaprak DeCarmine, Micaela Mantegna, Manuel Bronstein, Neville Spiteri, Brooks Brown, Neil Trevett, Greg Solano, Andre James, John Welch, Eric Goldberg, Renee Gittins, Zak Whaley, and Eliot Peper.
Griffin Gaming Partners raises biggest game VC fund with $750M
Griffin Gaming Partners reveals it has the most prominent gaming fund, with $750 million raised for its gaming-focused venture capital fund.
Founders Peter Levin, Phil Sanderson, and Nick Tuosto (an adviser to Griffin and a managing director of Liontree) lead the fund. It focuses on gaming and gaming-adjacent markets such as esports, gaming infrastructure, tools, social gaming platforms, streaming, and the cloud. Across its two funds, Griffin Gaming Partners now has over $1 billion in assets under management to invest in gaming.
The fund size says much about gaming and game funding (which we will discuss at GamesBeat Summit 2022). Gaming has become the world’s most extensive entertainment industry, with $180.3 billion in revenue in 2021, according to market researcher Newzoo. This figure exceeded Newzoo’s previous forecast of $175.8 billion. It was driven by mobile game growth and strength in the core console business for Nintendo Switch, Sony PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X. /S.
When asked what the $750 million funding round meant, Tuosto said in an interview with GamesBeat, “It means it’s a good time to be a founder. When I think of the history of gambling, the mindset of investors has perceived that it is a very success-oriented business where it is difficult to make money. Most people who invest in this category only do so for a percentage of their time. They’re not all in the games. We cover this space closely. It takes experience, connections, and a dedicated approach.
Get your action cam out! GoPro’s stock rises 30% after IPO
GoPro, the maker of high-definition cameras for extreme sports ipo ustakahashiventurebeat and action moments, saw its share price rise 30.6% after its IPO on Thursday. The stock opened at $28.65 per share today and closed at $31.34.
The San Mateo, California-based company is the latest Silicon Valley gadget maker to take advantage of the “IPO window” and investor love for exciting new tech stocks. Due to strong investor demand, GoPro priced its offer at $24 per share, at the high end of its target IPO price range. Given the rise in stock price since day one, this aggressive pricing has proven conservative for a company focused on capturing life’s passions. The stock hit a high of $33 per share during the day.
GoPro’s video cameras are mounted on helmets, handlebars, or long poles. Allowing them to capture and broadcast live video of their action sports ipo ustakahashiventurebeat or adventure exploits at Disneyland. A community has sprung up around GoPro’s video channels, featuring amazing photos and videos. GoPro sold more than 3.8 million action cameras in 2013.
In a YouTube video, founder and CEO Nick Woodman said: “The magic of GoPro is that we’re allowing the world to communicate in this new way, express itself in a new way, and it’s skyrocketing.”
According to Renaissance Capital, GoPro has raised approximately $427 million, has a fully diluted market capitalization of $3.5 billion, and is valued at $3.3 billion. It is listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol GPRO.
Proceeds from the initial municipal offering will be used to repay a loan through its line of credit and finance new plans. Such as specialized hardware development and revenue generation through a content management system. And the company’s transformation into a media company that sells user-generated content.
In other camera news, home security company Dropcam was acquired by Google’s Nest last week for $555 million in cash. GoPro could well compete with Apple, Samsung, and Google. It already competes with consumer electronics companies like Sony.
Hence, GoPro was founded in 2002 by Woodman, who started with a $264,000 check from his parents. Woodman rang the opening bell on the floor today.
2013 GoPro generated $985.7 million in revenue, compared to $526 million in 2012 and $234.2 million in 2011. The company was profitable in each of those years. Incomes for the three months ended March 31, 2014, were $235.7 million, 8% less than the prior year’s $255.1 million. The number of units shipped in the first quarter was 900,000, 11% less than the million in 2013. The number of employees increased from 49 at the end of 2010 to 718 at the end of March 2014.