Rivalry secures $22m infusion ahead of direct listing

Toronto-based esports betting operator and media company Rivalry has successfully raised $22m (~£15.9m) in funding led by Eight Capital and Cormark Securities.

The oversubscribed round means Rivalry has now raised a total of $44m (~£31.8m) in the last 12 months. This includes a $20M infusion in March to scale the company’s operations and country licensing programme.

Rivalry logo
Image credit: Rivalry

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According to Forbes, the latest financing round values Rivalry at $150M.

Rivalry has additionally announced it intends to take the company public through a direct listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange by October. Per terms of the financing, funds will remain in escrow for 120 days before being released to the company.

Rivalry is an Isle of Man-licensed operator founded in 2018 with an emphasis on esports. The operator is said to generate 85 percent of its traffic and revenue through esports – namely League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Dota 2  – while the remaining 15 percent comes from sports betting, which Rivalry introduced last year. Rivalry operates a team of 70 staff members globally.

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Rivalry has established partnerships with several esports organisations, including Fnatic, beastcoast, and FURIA, but has since moved away from team sponsorship and into original content creation. The result has seen Rivalry take on a role as a media company, with its core wagering product intended to add to the entertainment value of watching esports events.

The strategy has bode well for Rivalry, which has been ‘delivering double-digit month-over-month growth on average for more than two years,’ according to the company’s CEO Steven Salz in a GamesBeat interview.

Esports Insider says: This most recent infusion is exemplary of Rivalry’s astute business sense and long-term prospect in the industry. The Canadian operator company has carved itself out a shrewd niche in a highly competitive market, which has helped it succeed as well as it has to date.

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