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Gen.G, the esports organization behind the LCK League of Legends team and the parent company of Overwatch League franchise Seoul Dynasty, has secured another $46 million funding. The newest investors are led by popular actor Will Smith, Los Angeles Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong, and Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda.
Other participants in the funding round include New Enterprise Associates, Conductive Ventures, Battery Ventures, Canaan Partners, SVB Capital, and Stanford University.
Will Smith and Keisuke Honda will be joining Gen.G’s Player Management Advisor and former NBA star Chris Bosh, in order to guide the growth of the Gen.G brand and help its content creators and players, according to a press release. Bosh joined the team in October 2018.
“I am excited that Dreamers Fund, the fund that I co-launched with Will Smith, is now investing in Gen.G,” Honda said, “Esports is not yet big in Japan, but we are seeing tremendous growth there and globally, which is very positive.”
Gen.G has a plethora of teams in multiple esports, and this series of funding should help grow those teams to greater heights. Its League team in the LCK secured seventh place in the regular season and its Call of Duty team sits in first place in the Call of Duty World League. Meanwhile, Seoul Dynasty had a decent first stage in the Overwatch League, but hasn’t managed to find a win in the second stage.
