Strafe, an esports company based in Stockholm, has raised $3 million for its esports companion app and betting game.
The seed funding comes from Bitkraft Esports Ventures, which has been a prolific investor in the esports market.
Designed as an easily accessible central hub for esports enthusiasts, Strafe enables users to completely customize their in-app experience based on personal preferences.
Users can stay up to date with their favorite teams and players through real-time updates, view the widest tournament coverage while on the go, compete against other users in a social betting game, and access deep statistics before, during and after matches.
Strafe will use the money to focus on additional user acquisition and to expand its development team to enhance product features and scale its platform to reach more esports fans.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Bitkraft Esports Ventures as an investor in Strafe,” said Einar Ahlström, CEO and Co-Founder of Strafe. “Bitkraft is the leading esports VC in the world and they bring much more than just capital to the table. They are deeply connected with all main entities within the esports community and will help propel our business as we execute on our game plan going forward.”
Above: Marcus Jacobs, chairman of Strafe.
Image Credit: Strafe
Strafe has an esports database with live coverage of 58,000 matches, 12,000 professional players, 2,600 teams, eight different esports titles and users across 150 countries.
The app aggregates and curates esports news and data and gives users the ability to customize the app according to their personal interests. Strafe has also developed its own ranking system which enables odds setting for every esports match covered. Using this odds-system, Strafe has developed a unique entertaining social betting game where users vote on the outcome of games, gain points, climb the leaderboards and compete with other fans.
“Strafe is unlike any app currently on the esports market with extremely high user retention and organic growth and an impressive executive team including Marcus Jacobs, the former director of King’s popular mobile game Candy Crush, who is working to tap into the vast potential of social betting in esports,” said Bitkraft founding partner Malte Barth, in a statement. “We are excited to back an incredible entrepreneurial team from the developing esports and gaming ecosystem in the Nordics that provides more structure to the esports competitive landscape and additional entertainment value to the esports community.”
Strafe got off the ground in 2014.
