Ignite Tournaments Secures $10M for Play-to-Earn Esports Tournament and Streaming Infrastructure

Ignite Tournaments has secured $10 million from strategic investors and will use the funds to build the world’s first mobile P2E esports tournament. Also on the firm’s cards is a streaming platform.

According to the Moonbeam-based play-to-earn (P2E) gaming infrastructure provider, the funds were raised over two recently completed investment rounds. The seed round was completed last December and saw Yield Guild Games and Ascensive Assets co-lead a $3 million financing round. 

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Participants in the round included Skyvision Capital, Mechanism Capital, Arca Funds, among others. 

 In February this year, the firm raised $7 million in a strategic round co-led by Animoca Brands, Moon Holdings Fund and Infinity Ventures Crypto. Genesis Block Ventures, Longhash Ventures, SevenX Ventures, ROK Capital, D1 Ventures and Huobi Labs also participated.

Animoca Brands to integrate with Ignite Tournaments

The Ignite team said in a press release shared with Invezz that the new investments have brought with them “decades of experience in the gaming industry.”

 Notably, Animoca Brands is one of the leading investors in crypto-focused companies and other new technologies, including the burgeoning blockchain gaming sector. 

Robby Yung, the CEO of Animoca Brands (North American Operations) said that the company’s success has been cultivated around strategic investments in projects that show strong fundamentals, including in the gaming space.

“It is under this exciting context that we are eager to both invest in as well as to explore integrating our games with Ignite Tournaments,” Yung said. 

Transforming the esports space

Thomas Vu, formerly of Riot Games and currently a partner at Moon Holdings Fund, noted that they were “bullish” on what the Ignite team was doing and look forward to further collaborations.

“When I led multiple strategic efforts at Riot Games, I always thought that a ‘plug-and-play’ tournament would benefit players. It was inevitable that someone would build such a platform. I am delighted to see what Krystal and Tony have built, and look forward to supporting them in play-to-earn and traditional gaming,” Vu said in a statement.

Ignite Tournaments offers a technology that bridges traditional and blockchain (Web3) gaming by easily turning mobile games (even those already in the market) into the play-to-earn game.

It is a fresh model that will likely transform the entire esports industry, potentially lowering the entry barrier that has kept so many from exploring the exciting space.

Players will get all the benefits of P2E titles, including cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (NFT) payouts. Users can stake their assets for more rewards, the team said.

Ignite Tournaments launched an alpha test on 28 February and is currently working on web support for PC games.