Kokyo secures $1 million seed investment

PatronGG has secured a $1 million (£761,000) seed investment for its fan engagement platform Kokyo.

The raised capital will be used to help Kokyo expand into new titles and enrich its match data.

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The round was led by esports investment firm BITKRAFT Esports Ventures with participation from Trust Esport. According to PatronGG, esports revenue per fan amounts to $6 (£4.56) compared to $58.40 (£44.39) in traditional sports. Kokyo aims to increase this number by focusing on content quality and engagement maximization, instead of advertisement and sponsorship. 

Matthieu Dallon, Founding Partner of Trust Esport discussed the investment in a release: “Trust Esport is proud to partner with BITKRAFT Esports Ventures to support the creation and the launch of Kokyo. Interactions between esports clubs and their fans are essential but currently lack structure. This investment is part of our ambition to develop platforms and apps to widely spread esports content and to monetize esports audiences in a sustainable and profitable way for all players in the ecosystem, and especially the clubs.

“On a personal level, I am honored to join the board of PatronGG alongside CEO Dean Burrows, whose vision and talent as a product manager will certainly make Kokyo a future reference in terms of user experience.”

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Jens Hilgers, Founder and Managing Partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures added:“Kokyo is a must-have app where esports fans have an easy way to stay up-to-date and support their favorite team across multiple game titles and esports organizations have avenues to maximize fan engagement and create new opportunities for monetization. We believe Kokyo will change the way fans follow and engage with their favorite esports teams and the larger esports community while providing esports organizations with ways to diversify revenue.”

Esports Insider says: Maximizing engagement and content quality is a smart approach but the proof is in the pudding. There are plenty of apps with similar approaches, however, so it’ll be intriguing to see how Kokyo will produce something new upon launch.

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