Esports investment report, June 2024: NIP Group, NODWIN, Wildcard Gaming

Esports Insider’s monthly roundup of the most important esports investment stories is back with another edition, and this time around we’re taking a deep dive into the biggest investment stories of June.

Some very interesting and surprising developments happened in June 2024, with the likes of streamer Amouranth becoming a Co-Owner of Wildcard Gaming and NODWIN Gaming acquiring the entirety of Freaks 4U Gaming.

Let’s round up the top investment stories of June 2024!

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North American esports organisation Wildcard Gaming has announced that content creator Kaitlyn ‘Amouranth’ Siragusa has joined the company as a Co-Owner.

According to a release, Siragusa has acquired a ‘significant ownership stake’ in the company and will help grow and scale the organisation in the future. Siragusa is most known for being a widely popular streamer and content creator in North America, with more than 14m followers across various platforms such as X (3.7m), Kick (240,000), Twitch (6.3m) and OnlyFans. Currently, she livestreams on platforms Kick and Twitch. In April 2024, she was banned from Twitch for the 10th time for violating community guidelines

 Siragusa will also help support the organisation by amplifying its reach through social media channels. Additionally, the organisation is also exploring the idea of entering new esports titles later this year.

NIP Group, the parent company of esports organisation Ninjas in Pyjamas, has filed an IPO (initial public offering) to enter US stock market NASDAQ.

The multinational company, which operates in Europe and China, has registered with the aim of raising $5m (~£3.9m) in its initial offering. However, Renaissance Capital, an IPO investment and research company, estimate the move could raise up to $50m (~£39m).

As part of the filing, NIP Group has provided interesting annual financial records for 2022 and 2023. Comparing 2022 to 2023, NIP Group has taken its total net revenue from $65.8m (~£51.8m) to $83.7m (~£66m) and increased its gross profit from ​$3.7m (~£2.9m) to $7.2m (~£5.7m).

Indian esports and gaming company NODWIN Gaming has announced that it will fully acquire German esports and gaming company Freaks 4U Gaming, in a deal valued at €30.3m (~£25.6m).

The transaction will go through in the near future, with NODWIN initially acquiring 57% of shares, with the rest of the shares changing ownership at a later time.

NODWIN Gaming has now expanded its investment into Freaks 4U Gaming through a share swap agreement valued at €30.3m (~£25.6m). The deal is to go through through tranches, with the first round increasing the NODWIN stake in the company from 13.51% to 57%.

Esports and gaming holding company GameSquare Holdings has sold 25.5% of FaZe Media, its newly-created subsidiary housing FaZe Clan’s media-related IP.

The stake was sold for $9.5m (~£7.5m) to Richard ‘FaZe Banks’ Bengston, the company’s CEO and one of the original founders of FaZe. GameSquare still owns 100% of FaZe Esports.

Once the newly announced sale is finished, both GameSquare and Bengston will own 25.5% of FaZe Media stock and Kalish will keep his share of the company. GameSquare said it would retain controlling voting interest in FaZe Media, and would also retain voting control of the transferred shares for a period of two years.

Italian esports organisation NOVO Esports has announced a new round of financing, amounting to a total of €300,000 (~£253,300).

The round will be used to further grow its competitive segment with more teams and players, open a new office in Milan, and generally scale the organisation further.

The company received a €110,000 (~£95,000) investment late in 2023 through a SAFE deal with two private investors. Interestingly, one of the investors from the first round, Nicolò Sereno, has now decided to further support NOVO with another cash injection.

Game developer Riot Games has announced its intention to merge League of Legends’ LCS, CBLOL and LLA to create a new pan-Americas league for 2025.

Riot Games noted that the new proposed model would see the LCS and CBLOL act as North and South conferences. Each conference will include six existing partnered teams, one team from the LLA (Latin America), and one ‘guest team’ spot each for promotion and relegation through to its Tier 2 system. 

As a result, the new system would see a total of eight teams operate in each new Americas conference. 

North American esports organisation Oxygen Esports has launched Quick Fix Media (QFM), an esports content and media incubator.

QFM will focus on teaming up with community-focused esports news and content outlets to help them grow. As a result, Oxygen Esports, via QFM, has partnered with ShiftRLE and Octane, two media platforms focused on Rocket League.

The establishment of Quick Fix Media opens up a new business segment for the organisation, as well as new ways to support the grassroots scene and community.