North American esports organization TSM announced a major financing round, worth $37 million, on Tuesday. The massive capital influx could help the team further expand its dominant position in the region.
This round, first reported by Forbes, exceeds the $25 million number that was reported in January of this year. TSM parent company Swift partnered with Ethan Kurzweil of Bessemer Capital Ventures to lead the investor class.
Related: What role should outside capital play in esports?
Along with Bessemer, two of the most prominent investors in the round are Yahoo! Inc. co-founder Jerry Yang and NBA superstar Stephen Curry. Other investors include:
- Telstra, Australian telecommunications company
- Steve Simon, co-founder of Simon Equity Partners and a board member of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers
- Andre Iguodala, NBA player and teammate of Curry’s on the Golden State Warriors
- Steve Young, Hall of Fame NFL player
- Yifang Ventures, Chinese venture capital fund
- Colin Carrier, chief strategy officer at Twitch
- Walter Wang, CEO of JM Eagle
Companies in esports have been increasingly seeking outside capital with which to build. TSM will reportedly use $20 million of the fund for franchising fees and a new 15,000-to-20,000 square foot esports facility in Los Angeles. This raises speculation that the team will compete for one of the expansion slots for the Overwatch League’s upcoming second season. Another $10 million is earmarked for acquisitions and investments in the gaming space.
“TSM has always run a very lean operation, so we haven’t set ourselves up to take advantage of the fast growth that this market is experiencing, so that’s what we’re trying to prepare ourselves to do,” Dinh told Forbes. “We’ve got a really good group of investors…it’s going to help us accomplish what we want for TSM.”
This latest investment further expands Bessemer’s presence in esports and gaming. Kurzweil’s other portfolio companies include popular streaming site Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon, Inc. in 2016. Bessemer increased its presence in esports in the second half of 2017 when it hired John Robinson, an experienced esports entrepreneur. It has ties with both TSM and fellow NA LCS participant 100 Thieves, where Robinson serves as President and COO.
“It was just really clear Andy was operating at the highest level,” Kurzweil said. “What he had done without any capital at all was two or three times as much as people who had raised a lot of money.”
With the huge influx of cash, TSM is primed to extend its dominance in North American esports. Since Dinh founded the company in 2009, it has become one of the region’s best-known brands with presence in League of Legends, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Fortnite, among other titles.
