Drake, Scooter Braun, Sequoia Capital, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo highlighted a group of investors who were part of 100 Thieves’ Series A round, the company announced on Monday. The company did not specify the exact total from the Series A, but said that it has raised over $25 million to date.
Other investors include Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Tao Capital, Green Bay Ventures, and Advancit Capital.
Drake and Braun co-led the round and will join founder and professional gamer Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert as 100 Thieves co-owners.
“I’ve spent my 10-year career in esports growing the ecosystem and am proud to have Drake and Scooter join as my partners to help take 100 Thieves to new heights,” said Haag, the former Call of Duty world champion & CEO of 100 Thieves. “Our top priority is to win world championships, but our ambitions go far beyond competitive gaming,”
Drake and Braun will act as strategic advisors for the company. Braun has also joined the company’s board of directors.
“With Matt’s experience, talent, and vision as a professional gamer he and his team have built one of the most authentic brands in the ever-evolving gaming space,” Braun said. “We are honored to join the 100 Thieves family during this exciting phase of their professional journey. I personally could not be more thrilled for 100 Thieves. This is just the beginning.”
The funding comes at a time when esports is breaking into the mainstream. In addition to events being broadcasted on television stations like TBS, large esports competitions garner massive viewership across the world. For example, in 2017, a “League of Legends” competition had a record-breaking 364 million unique viewers during the mid-season invitational. Compare that to Super Bowl LI, which had just 111.3 million viewers.