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Team Vitality, a leading European esports team, receives €20 million investment from entrepreneur Tej Kohli
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Team Vitality has announced that it has received an initial €20 million investment from tech entrepreneur Tej Kohli.
The investment is thought to be the largest-ever for a European team. It represents a major boost for the continent’s esports sector, which is currently expanding rapidly and looks set to rival Asian and North American markets.
Through a combination of strong management, ambition and hard work, Team Vitality has quickly established itself as a leading professional brand in Europe with rosters across a number of titles and some notable commercial deals to boot. Vitality will make use of Mr Kohli’s business acumen and global experience to develop and strengthen the team and become a globally recognised brand.
The team’s founders also believe the investment will deliver for the fans. The €20 million sum will serve to develop state of the art facilities, including training and performance centres, as well as a flagship store and office. It will also enable world class athletic teams to be built, and ensure that fans can experience esports entertainment in a more immersive style.
Adding to its strong presence in European esports leagues, Vitality has recently launched a team in the leading FPS title Counter Strike: Global Offensive, better known as CS:GO, that last weekend won the DreamHack Open in Atlanta.
Vitality was also recently confirmed as one of the teams that has secured a long term partnership in newly franchised EU LCS, which has been rebranded to the LEC. This gives Vitality a long term corner stone in Europe’s premiere esports league.
With Mr Kohli’s support, the team plans to first expand its presence in China and Southeast Asia to reach an even wider range of viewers. Southeast Asia is the fastest growing region for esports, with major brands such as Singtel pledging extensive support and the likes of the Malaysian Government committing funds to help grow the industry locally.
Team Vitality, founded in 2013 by Fabien Devide and Nicolas Maurer, is a professional European esports team based in France, with a total of 50+ world class players from 11 countries. The team has a current portfolio of ten games, including League of Legends, CS:GO, Fortnite, PUBG, Rocket League and more.
Active in both European and international competitions, Team Vitality has a wide following in Europe, with a unique community of loyal supporters and an impressive list of AAA- brand partners such as Adidas and Renault.
Mr Kohli is the lead backer of Swiss-based robotics and venture studio Rewired, focused on applied sciences and technologies. His passion for technology and innovation enabled him to recognise the exciting investment opportunity offered by the growing esports market.
With Mr. Kohli’s commitment of €50m, Rewired launched an esports division Rewired GG, one of the largest investment arms in Europe dedicated solely to esports. Through it, he aims to expand the esports industry, as well as develop individual players, games and commercial opportunities. The backing of Team Vitality is Rewired GG’s first investment.
Team Vitality President and Co-founder, Fabien Devide, said:
“This investment marks a truly significant moment in the five-year history of our team and is a result of the hard work of our players, and the unquestionable loyalty of our supporters. We look forward to building on the already great community Team Vitality has established and to welcoming new players and supporters in the future.”
Mr Tej Kohli said:
“Esports is the future of both sport and entertainment and Vitality is one of the biggest and most exciting European teams. I’m thrilled to accompany them on their journey, as they look to become the number one esports team in Europe, and ultimately worldwide. I look forward to using my forty-years of business and technology experience to assist the management team in building a well-respected, world-class team, which will be a dream for every gamer and supporter to be a part of.”
Team Vitality CEO and Co-founder, Nicolas Maurer, said:
“Team Vitality has always strived to be one of the best esports teams in the world. With Mr Kohli’s support we are excited to step even closer to achieving our global ambitions. Team Vitality is set to become leaders in an industry that we believe will soon rival traditional sports in terms of audience and investment.”
About Team Vitality
Team Vitality was created in 2013 as a Call of Duty team and developed into a console organisation. It started its expansion on the PC esports scene in January 2016 with arrival in The European League of Legends Championship Series (EULCS). With continued growth on major titles and a lot of great results, Vitality’s mission is to bring the most professional environment possible to its players, while providing the best entertainment possible to its supporters. The two core pillars of Team Vitality are excellence and proximity.
About Mr Tej Kohli
Mr Tej Kohli is a visionary entrepreneur, businessman and philanthropist who rose to success building solutions for e-commerce businesses during the peak of the dot-com boom. Passionate about the potential of disruptive technology, innovation, philanthropy and in empowering young people, Mr Kohli has ensured this is reflected in his work and career. Mr Kohli now invests in innovative technology firms specialising in robotics, artificial intelligence and biotech, through a $100 million fund called Rewired. He has recently committed €50M to Rewired GG, an investment arm dedicated to esports. Beyond this, Mr Kohli carries out philanthropic work through the Tej Kohli Corneal Institute (TKCI), as part of his mission to cure corneal blindness worldwide by 2030.
About Fabien Devide
Fabien is President of Team Vitality. His career in the esports industry has covered the full spectrum of roles, from player to coach, manager and president. As a passionate competitor, Fabien’s vision is to take care of athletes, pass on his love for the game and nurture an authentic and close relationship with fans. Since launching Vitality in 2013, he has transformed the team into a true European leader. Today, Fabien’s role is to oversee and manage the sports and brand departments. He is also identified as the definitive voice and expert on esports in France. He has spoken before the national parliamentary working group on esports and was appointed head coach of the efootball National Team by the French Football Federation.
About Nicolas Maurer
Nicolas is CEO of Team Vitality. Since the team began, he has taken charge of its operational management. Nicolas looks after Vitality’s structuring, human resources, fundraising and monetisation of the brand via sponsorship, merchandising, commercial operations and revenues from leagues and games management. In just five years, Nicolas has turned Team Vitality into one of Europe’s leading esports businesses. Vitality is today a structured and well-funded operation, thanks to an initial fundraising round that drew EUR 2.5 million in December 2017. These fundraising rounds are among the first ever conducted by an esports club in Europe. Nicolas’ success has been to attract key strategic investors and prestigious sponsors, such as Orange, Renault and adidas. Today, Nicolas manages more than 70 dedicated and passionate people and continues to transform the team into a major actor in the world of esports.
Source: European Gaming Media
Latest News
What makes Turbo Games’ provably fair games so special?
A partnership between game developer Turbo Games and iGaming solution provider and aggregator Slotegrator began in November 2022 via the APIgrator game integration solution. Since then, the collaboration has been developing successfully — and now it’s time to analyze what made it successful.
Turbo Games has noticed how the new technologies spreading throughout the industry can work for the good of brand transparency and player loyalty: “We can already see how blockchain technology has made it possible to make betting checks more accessible to players. All you need is a blockchain-hash and a decoder service. We think we will continue to move in this direction. Many traditional online casinos do not offer the possibility to check the bet. Sooner or later we all have to come to this. Perhaps the development of artificial intelligence will help here, because we are already seeing its involvement in all spheres of human life.”
Turbo Games specializes in provably fair games. Provable fairness is a concept where players can verify their wins or losses using blockchain technology — the outcome of the game is dictated by a smart contract and is absolutely random, barring the possibility of any human involvement. Using cryptographic hashing algorithms, the gambling site and the player’s device both generate seeds (random strings of numbers). Players receive a key that allows them to check the results; if the results are the same as the game round they witnessed, it proves that there was no foul play.
According to statistics from Turbo Games, the audience for provably fair games is mostly between 18 and 25 years old. However, there are also players aged 35-40 who prefer traditional games but would like to try something new, and have turned their attention to provably fair games.
There are good odds that the technology of provably fair games will become more popular, if not even commonplace, because it gives players a feeling of transparency and proves that the business is trustworthy without the need to search through dozens of reviews. Whereas many innovations in iGaming simply add entertainment, provable fairness addresses security concerns and reassures players that they’re not being exploited, which is invaluable.
Provably fair games are beneficial for both players and online casinos. Vadim Potapenko, Head of Sales at Turbo Games, comments: “It often happens that the users are not satisfied with the result, because gambling is not only about big wins, but also possible losses. By allowing them to check the fairness of a bet, we make life easier for platforms and players. Of course, this allows us to communicate with partners and users that we work honestly and that’s why they should trust our games.”
Ayvar Gabidullin, Business Development Manager at Slotegrator, adds that “this type of game is now becoming more and more popular and has great potential for both players and game providers in the future. On the part of the player, the advantage is that the player can always be sure that his game is fair and he can independently check any of his bets. And for the game provider, this also simplifies the process of implementing casino games, since now it will not be necessary to obtain the appropriate certificates from independent laboratories before launching new games, they can immediately enter the market with these games and where anyone can check the result and make sure that that there is no cheating with players. Many game providers are starting to look towards this type of game. And as far as I see, many operators are starting to think about adding these games.”
What do players in 2023 need? The iGaming industry is all about reputation and trust. Players have a huge number of platforms to choose from, making them pickier and pickier. There’s an abundance of forums where players leave reviews, so if players view a brand as untrustworthy, there are plenty of places they can share their opinion. Provable fairness not only stops that from happening, it provides evidence to the contrary, giving players something else to talk about.
Slotegrator also recommends investing time and effort into localization and creating an effective and detailed marketing strategy — before trying provably fair technology players need to get to the platform, and there is no acquisition without marketing.
ABOUT SLOTEGRATOR
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
More information: https://slotegrator.pro/
ABOUT TURBO GAMES
Turbo Games — a provably fair games provider that belongs to Turbo Stars company — has an ambitious goal to establish widespread recognition throughout the iGaming world. Even though it is young, the company consists of professionals who have been working on the brand for over five years and are even planning to introduce a new brand for a wider audience soon.
Turbo Games also works in Europe, India, and South Africa, where the company sees the most potential and expects the same “hype” as in Brazil.
The portfolio of Turbo Games consists of 21 titles, including well-known games like Mines, Crash X, DoubleRoll, Hi-Lo, and Plinko. The studio releases a game every month. However, not all games are developed from scratch. Wicket Blast and Spin Strike, the last two releases, are based on cricket and the Indian Premier League. Crash X remains the most popular fast game in the Turbo Games portfolio, and the studio reports that crash games enjoy stable levels of popularity. Overall, the main focus of the brand is provably fair games.
More information: https://turbogames.io/
Baltics
Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
Looking to take your career to the next level in the games industry? Then, Nordic Game Talents is the place to be! Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
From Oct 27-29, the online and interactive event is dedicated to recruitment and career building in the creative & games industry within the Nordic region. The event empowers participants to be part of a bigger community and motivates them to explore new paths in achieving their career goals.
Hiring creative & games studios – Supercell, Funcom, Panzerdog, Tactile Games, Gamecan, Fingersoft, Dazzle Rocks, Redhill Games to name a few from the Nordic region will be participating in the event. These studios will share information on their latest projects, work culture and what it takes to be part of their team. The individual games associations from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Estonia will share insights through live sessions on the booming games industry in their respective countries. Career development topics pertinent to job seekers like – How to have a successful first interview, Creative Portfolio reviews will also be discussed.
Experienced game industry professionals and individuals beginning their careers from around the world are welcome to join the event. One-to-one interviews with the hiring studios can be scheduled through the event platform. A great opportunity to get to know the studios and network with game professionals from around the world.
Participating in the event
As a job seeker attending Nordic Game Talents, take a few minutes to fill out a simple registration form. After filling the registration form you will receive a link to the online event platform – PINE, to join the event on 27th October. Participants joining Nordic Game Talents will also receive a free-of-charge pass to the Nordic Game Conference.
To view the complete agenda, please click here and to learn more about the event please visit Games Job Fair
About Games Factory Talents
A Helsinki-based talent attraction agency dedicated to the games & creative industry. Our services include direct recruitment, organizing game job fairs and managing a community of game industry professionals through our GameDev Talent Board.
To learn more about Games Factory Talents visit – Games Factory Talents
810 THE SPREAD
Cumulus Media Launches 810 THE SPREAD, the Bay Area’s First Sports Station Focused on Sports Betting
Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) announces that it has launched the Bay Area’s first Sports radio station focused on sports betting, 810 THE SPREAD. The new station brings sports and sports betting news, information, and insights to the burgeoning and underserved sports betting audience in San Francisco. 810 THE SPREAD will deliver behind-the-book perspectives from experts in a highly entertaining and engaging format. 810 THE SPREAD goes live today on the legendary 810am frequency that has been the 80-year home of historic Talk Radio KGO-AM. Cumulus San Francisco also launched the station’s new website at www.810thespread.com. Kevin Graham, Program Director of Cumulus’ sister sports stations KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT, adds Program Director duties for 810 THE SPREAD.
Larry Blumhagen, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco, said: “810 THE SPREAD joins our sports brands KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT for a trifecta of dynamic sports content across four signals and streaming everywhere. We are excited about this new chapter and look forward to serving the Bay Area’s passionate sports fans in an incomparable way.”
Blumhagen added: “This is a bittersweet day for us, as it’s hard to say goodbye to the legendary KGO, which has been a part of listeners’ lives for so many years. We want to thank all the people who have been a part of KGO’s historic run these many years – and the listeners who loyally tuned in to the station. Times change, and we must change with them.”
Kevin Graham, Program Director, 810 THE SPREAD, said: “810 THE SPREAD will be the Bay Area’s best bet for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts, and we are pleased to introduce sports-betting radio to our community. The station will feature a lineup of expert personalities that deliver unique sports talk and sports betting insights that entertain, inform, and engage, along with Cal Football and Basketball as well as select professional and college sports play-by-play events. While 810 THE SPREAD will feature specific gambling information, we believe our entertaining presentation will make it a favorite for all Bay area sports fans and a perfect complement to the legendary KNBR and KTCT. With its addition, it truly shows Cumulus’ commitment to the Bay area as ‘The Sports Leader’!”
The weekday programming lineup for 810 THE SPREAD includes:
6am-9am – Bet QL Daily – The must-consume show for sports fans and betting fans alike. Hosted by Joe Ostrowski, Joe Giglio, and Erin Hawksworth.
9am-12pm – Jim Rome - Aggressive, informed sports opinions, rapid-fire dialogue, and plenty of sports smack. As one of the most prolific sports talk hosts in America, Rome draws massive tune-in with legions of fans known as clones, who live for Rome’s take on the day’s largest issues in sports.
12pm-4pm – You Better You Bet – Nick Kostos and Ken Barkley have you covered for the best bets on the biggest matchups, the latest line movement and updates in the futures market. We’ll have up-to-the-minute coverage of backdoor covers and bad beats, and the cheers and tears that come with them. It’s sports betting conversation like you’ve never heard before.
4pm-8pm – Bet MGM Tonight – Live sports betting updates for all the night’s games as they happen – plus live “look-ins” for Major League Baseball games in progress. Get the latest scores, sides, totals, props, parlays, futures, and much more with hosts Quinton Mayo, Trysta Krick, and Ryan Horvat.
8pm-12 Midnight – CBS Sports Radio
BetQL Network programming is provided by Cumulus Media’s Westwood One through a partnership with Audacy.
For more information or to stream 810 THE SPREAD, visit: http://www.810thespread.com.
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