Phil Kornychev – PVP.ME – Pitch ICE Perfect

17 January 2017

Share

Phil Kornychev

Phil Kornychev is the Co-Founder at PVP.ME, one of four esports companies in the GamCrowd Pitch ICE startup competition.

PVP.me is a player to player betting exchange focused exclusively on esports. This is something that there’s definite potential for and currently the company is in the Beta testing stages.  

This is the third of our Pitch ICE Perfect profiles ahead of ICE Totally Gaming in London next month.

Esports Insider: What made you decide to enter into the Pitch ICE GamCrowd start-up competition

Phil: Taking part in Pitch ICE will help us introduce PVP.ME to the professional community and we think that many attendees will find our product very interesting. We would like to share our knowledge and insights on esports and betting with all those that are, or might be, keen to learn more.

Esports Insider: What do you think of the competition? Four esports companies have made the grade…

Phil: We are delighted that Pitch ICE has such a strong esports presence! This showcases both the excellent level of the event, and how it has its eye on the ball, and the talent within the esports industry. 

All of these companies look very promising in their respective niches and we are proud and excited to have such tough competition.

Esports Insider: How was 2016 for PVP.Me?

Phil: It was a very fruitful year for us – we received a great reception at several iGaming events and made a few strategic partnerships which will take us in the direction we’re looking to go. 

As of right now we are in the process of adding a lot of new functionality tailored for gamers – this major update will be released in the next few months, so stay tuned! It was an interesting year for the esports betting industry as well. Skin betting is now effectively dead, which shows that our initial choice of business model was correct.

Esports Insider: Thoughts on crowdfunding for start-ups in the space?

Phil: Crowdfunding still remains a very effective method of attracting funds, especially in the gaming sector where community is so important. It’s always good to see that gamers can play a role in bringing interesting and ambitious projects to life.

Esports Insider: How can igaming operators better appeal to gamers?

Phil: The gamer audience is different from traditional sports bettors – they are generally very young and present a new generation of customers that must be treated differently. They require a personalised offer with the use of social media, streams and opinion leaders, video content, raffles and contests and much more.

Viral and guerrilla marketing play a huge role here, since big marketing budgets do not guarantee results and may even be detrimental. I have stressed this before and will mention again – a dedicated esports portal is very important, because the biggest mistake you can make is bundling esports fans together with traditional bettors.