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| Talon Esports raises US$2 million in seed funding to fuel its global aspirations |
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Esports and lifestyle brand Talon Esports, a Cyberport incubatee, recently completed a US$2 million seed funding round. The new capital will enable Talon, one of the fastest growing teams in the Asia-Pacific region that enjoys millions of fans worldwide, to expand into new countries, develop new titles, and further enrich its lifestyle value offering.
The funding round was led by Korea’s Hana Digital Transformation Fund, an investment arm of Hana Financial Group, one of the largest financial groups in Korea. Other investors included Widus Strategic Investments, New Wave Esports Corporation, Sprout Investments, Gavekal Family, EMC Capital, Animoca Brands, Sean Hung, Felix LaHaye (United Esports, a leading North American esports media organisation), and various family offices and individuals.
The amount raised reflected the investors’ bullishness on esports and digital entertainment markets in the Asia-Pacific, which accounts for half of the global esports audience, has a strong and rising demand for competitions and contents.
Talon is well-positioned to capture this market. It already maintains creative studios in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Thailand and competes with flying colours in a multitude of titles. In July 2020, Talon entered into a multi-year partnership with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to run a co-branded League of Legends team called “PSG Talon”. The team competed in the Pacific Championship Series Spring Split 2020 and then at Worlds 2020 in Shanghai, an event that recorded more than one million viewers on just day one.
In October, Talon was appointed by Riot Games Southeast Asia as one of its regional partners to roll out esports and collegiate tournaments for VALORANT, Riot’s wildly popular 5v5 character-based tactical shooter game. Talon will be in charge of the Hong Kong esports and collegiate tournaments and the Taiwan esports tournaments. It will also run a series of merit-based qualifiers for VALORANT First Strike, which will begin on 1 November (registration here).
This is an industry in which we can never afford to slow down,” said Sean Zhang, CEO and Co-Founder of Talon Esports, “With the support of our investors, partners and Cyberport, we will continue to build a brand that pushes the boundaries of performance and imagination.
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