CHALLENGERMODE RAISES A $4M INVESTMENT ROUND

Esports – competitive computer gaming – is becoming one of the largest sports in the world. Challengermode is a Swedish esports and tech startup leading this trend. Having hosted tens of thousands of tournaments and with a quickly growing footprint in esports, Challengermode has now raised 4 Million USD in a new round of funding, the majority of which comes from existing investors.

Dedicated to making esports as accessible as traditional sports, Challengermode is now launching one of the most ambitious esports initiatives to date, the National Esports Leagues. With the goal of creating a clear path to the top for regular gamers everywhere, the NEL will be the first truly accessible and permanent amateur-to-pro league ecosystem for grassroots esports - powered by the automated and scalable league system on Challengermode. Over the next few years, Challengermode will invest millions in establishing national competitions globally together with its partners, within the NEL framework.

We started Challengermode to provide a more accessible competitive gaming experience to regular gamers. With these new financial resources and a quickly growing team we will be able expand our presence to new gaming platforms on multiple devices, connecting a disjointed esports ecosystem from the bottom up. Together with partners and game developers we’re establishing a bridge between the non-professional and professional esports worlds. To this end, we’re Inviting anyone who wants to scale up their esports efforts with the Challengermode league system.

- Robel Efrem, CEO & founder of Challengermode

In addition to securing new funding, the company recently entered a strategic partnership with Dreamhack, the world’s largest digital festival. Challengermode will now be the only tournament platform used for DreamHack competitions in Counter-strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, throughout Europe and North America.

The company is also glad to announce the entry of several influential business and tech executives to join its newly formed advisory board. Their vast experience and connections within tech, media and entertainment is a great asset to Challengermode going forward. Joining Challengermode on its mission to make esports more accessible, are:

• Rickard Steiber, SVP at HTC Vive (former CEO of MTGx)
• Brett Horowitz, CFO at HBO Nordic
• Martin Bunge-Meyer, former Head of PR at King.com
• David Craelius, Group CTO at Evolution Gaming (former CTO of Klarna)