Southeast Asian organisation Team Flash has secured $1.5 million (£1.24 million) in a seed round.
The funding round was led by Singapore-based family office Octava, a company that has recently added esports as one of its investment verticals.
Terence Ting, CEO of Team Flash said of the investment: “With the rise of esports over the past decade, Southeast Asia has seen significant growth despite traditionally lagging behind our international counterparts due to a lack of capital investment and infrastructure. Our objective has always been to showcase talent from our region on the international stage and build a proper career path for our players.
“We are especially excited to announce the collaboration with this group of strategic investors who will greatly facilitate Team Flash’s sprint towards this vision to bring esports further into the mainstream. Our goal is to establish Team Flash as an international esports organization in the next 12 months, alongside our dedicated team members across the region.”
The funds will be used for international expansion and allow the organisation to consolidate its efforts of becoming the market leader in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. It will also use the capital to expand its roster of competitors and launch a dedicated merchandising arm later in 2019.
Tan Ting Yong, Investment Director at Octava added: “Southeast Asia has the fastest-growing esports demographic in the world and is at the cross-section of powerful trends like social connections and digital consumption of video. Looking ahead, we believe teams will benefit from the structural growth of esports into a fully-fledged professional sport. Team Flash is well-positioned in the region to do this, given their record of excellence and community outreach programmes.”
Prior to this first seed round, former Infinite Esports & Entertainment employee, Jesal Parekh, joined Team Flash as Chief Operating Officer.
Esports Insider says: Since its inception in 2017, Team Flash has grown to be one of the most prominent organisations in Southeast Asia. With the new funds available, expect to see further expansion and growth in the coming months.