Skillz Announces $15 Million in Series B Funding to Bring eSports to Mobile Games
Leading NFL and NBA Owners Invest in Skillz and the Future of eSports
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, today announced that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding. The round was led by David Bonderman's Wildcat Capital Management with The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots and Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, participating in the round.
"We see eSports as the future of sports," said Len Potter, Chief Investment Officer at Wildcat Capital Management. "Mobile is rapidly becoming the most popular gaming platform in history, and Skillz is at the forefront of competitive mobile gaming."
The Series B announcement follows a year of exceptional growth for Skillz, a platform technology company powering eSports competitions for over 1,100 mobile game studios. The company recently announced that it has added over 4 million new players in the last 12 months.
"With more people playing video games than all physical sports, eSports are achieving mainstream adoption, and Skillz is leading the way," said Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry. "It's easy to imagine the day when eSports competitions share the same court as the Milwaukee Bucks."
Skillz has now raised over $28M in total financing and plans to use the new capital to market the platform, roll out its recently announced live events technology, and grow its teams in Boston and San Francisco.
"With David Bonderman and the owners of professional sports franchises like the New England Patriots and Milwaukee Bucks behind us, we are shaping the intersection of digital and physical sports and defining the future of competition," said Andrew Paradise, founder and CEO of Skillz.
Players interested in competing can visit www.skillz.com on their mobile device or www.skillz.com/games from their PC.
Developers interested in implementing the Skillz SDK can visit:www.skillz.com/developers.
Want to become a Skillz affiliate? Please visit: http://skillz.com/affiliates/
About Skillz
Skillz is the worldwide leader in mobile eSports. Skillz has hosted more than 40 million mobile eSports tournaments for players in over 180 countries. More than 1,100 game studios use the Skillz platform, which pays out roughly $1 million in cash prizes to players every two weeks. The company believes in making mobile games more fun and competitive for players while making game creation more lucrative for developers. Skillz eSports tournaments create direct revenue for game developers while enhancing rather than interrupting the gamer experience. Founded in 2012, Skillz has offices in San Francisco and Boston and has raised over $28M in funding. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.
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SOURCE Skillz
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