Gamr, a Nigerian competitive esports startup, has announced it has secured seed investment to scale its operations further and deliver new opportunities to Africa’s estimated 750 million gamers.
Participants in the undisclosed seed round include empawa Africa, Adrenaline gaming and other investors from business and entertainment.
Esports is growing rapidly around the world, and the sector is expected to be worth $1.5 billion by 2023. Annually, Nigerian consumers spend $100 million on gaming and interest in gaming and esports continues to accelerate across Africa.
However, Africa lacks much of the infrastructure critical for the widespread adoption of esports and African gamers often do not have access to the substantial prizes available to gamers globally.
Gamr is challenging this through its subscription service platform, which enables gamers to participate in esports tournaments and allows organisers to reach players across Africa.
Gamr also assists talented players in progressing from hobbyist participants to esports professionals by providing coaching and access to player analytics on its platform using artificial intelligence technology.
The startup is also increasing the financial opportunities for African gamers and has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money to previous tournament winners.
Discussing the launch, Chief Operating Officer Sholakunmi Adenipebi said:
“Africa is the final frontier for esports and Gamr is realising this opportunity.
“African gamers have embraced us. We’ve built our community to over 60,000 and have hosted tournaments featuring thousands of gamers from across Africa. We’ve also built strategic partnerships with stakeholders across the globe.
“We’re excited to have the support of our new investors and will push to continue scaling across the continent and provide new opportunities for gamers, tournament organisers and brands.”
Ayomide Adeware, Head, Products & Label Services, empawa Africa added:
“Gamr’s track record and vision for esports in Africa is intriguing and we are proud to be supporting its growth. As we have seen in music, Africa offers a huge and engaged fanbase and we’re excited about the potential for esports in Africa.”
