DOJO Madness, an esports big data startup, announced today that it has raised a $6M Series A II round. The money will be used to further expand DOJO’s data driven products, including its SUMO coaching apps, Shadow SaaS platforms and its newly acquired Coaching marketplace, as well as to further support the introduction of the company’s products into new regions starting with Southeast Asia. Raine Ventures, the venture capital arm of The Raine Group, led the round with participation from Kakao’s K Cube Ventures and existing investors including March Capital and DN Capital. The Berlin-based startup was founded in December of 2014 and was able to raise a total amount of $12.75 million in funding.
Jens Hilgers, the CEO of DOJO Madness stated: “Raine Ventures is an excellent fit for DOJO Madness because of their specific sports and entertainment focus, as well as their access to Asia. Asia is a key market for us as we continue to execute on further scaling our products, and Raine, with its network of relationships and deep partnerships, will be an invaluable partner to us.”
Blair Ford, the Venture Partner of The Raine Group commented: “Many popular esports titles exhibit a very steep learning curve. DOJO’s products improve the experience and engagement of players in their favorite games, and as such, are equally of great value to publishers. We couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with such an experienced and passionate team.”
No longer a niche pastime, the global esports audience will reach nearly 400 million in 2017, split equally between devoted esports enthusiasts and occasional viewers. This audience is projected to grow 50% over the next three years, according to market research firm Newzoo.
DOJO’s product offerings are rooted in big data and strengthen the broad esports ecosystem. DOJO’s growing series of coaching apps have over one million monthly active users. Apps include LOLSUMO, which provides personalized guidance and actionable insights and is the top rated real-time coaching app for League of Legends on both the App Store and Google Play, as well as OVERSUMO and DOTASUMO, which help players master popular esports titles Overwatch and Dota 2. DOJO recently acquired coaching marketplace, Leaguecoaching.gg, adding a human coaching layer to their product offerings. In addition to its coaching apps, DOJO Madness offers a B2B data service and a separate SaaS platform that provides analytics and data visualizations for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), League of Legends, and Dota 2 professional teams and broadcasters.