The Gaming Stadium, an esports venue based outside Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, has gone public and raised $1.58 million CAD (£900,000).
The venue’s parent company Myesports Ventures merged with capital pool company Brockton Ventures to form a new entity, TGS Esports Inc, which is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.
RELATED: The Gaming Stadium partners with GINX Esports TV Canada
Spiro Khouri, CEO of TGS Esports Inc, commented in a release: “TGS was originally founded with the intent of opening esports facilities in multiple communities. Over a very short time period, we have evolved to handle all aspects of in person and online esports activities including tournaments, large scale events, consultation, and production. This transaction allows us to continue our growth while exploring new and exciting opportunities in the esports space. The entire TGS team is excited to work with our new partners.”
According to the release, a private placement of 15,830,325 shares in the company at CA$0.10 led to the total of $1,583,032.50 CAD in funding. The company’s TSX ticker symbol was changed from BROC.P to TGS at the opening of business on August 5th.
While The Gaming Stadium has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a blog post announcing the news suggests that its online tournament efforts have seen a significant response, and that it remains optimistic for the future of the venue and company.
RELATED: HyperX enters hardware partnership with The Gaming Stadium
“The lockdowns will end, someday. And when they do, people will want to meet in person,” the post reads. “So, a lot of the money we have raised will go toward expanding our physical footprint when it’s safe to do so. One benefit of running online tournaments: we are understanding a lot more about our brand, the games our people like to play, and what their appetite is for in-person events. It’s valuable intelligence that we can use to build a stronger company and stronger gaming communities.”
The Gaming Stadium has partnerships with HyperX, Ubisoft, Red Bull, Vertagear, Pepsi, Memory Express, GINX Esports TV Canada, Andromeda Consultants, and Tourism Richmond.
Esports Insider says: As the blog post notes, it might be a strange time to be raising money for an esports venue shuttered by the pandemic – but this merger has been in the works since late 2019. Beyond that, they’re still looking to the bigger picture, and the rising investment interest in esports right now must give them confidence.