Bitkraft

Bitkraft is a private equity firm founded in 2015 and headquartered in Berlin, with additional offices in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The firm specializes in early-stage investments in the esports and gaming sectors across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. With a focus on digital entertainment, Bitkraft has established itself as a significant player in the industry, leveraging its presence in major metropolitan areas to identify and support innovative companies. The firm operates multiple venture capital funds, including those targeting information technology and gaming, and typically invests between $0.1 million and $0.4 million in promising startups. Founded by Jens Hilgers, Bitkraft aims to nurture the growth of esports and gaming enterprises in a rapidly evolving market.

Malte Barth

Founding Partner

Jasper Brand

Senior Associate

Martin Garcia

Chief Financial Officer & General Partner

Jens Hilgers

General Partner

Scott Rupp

Founding General Partner

Past deals in eSports

Ready

Initial Coin Offering in 2022
Ready democratizes gaming with The Ready Games- DIY game tournaments- and Ready Maker, a platform for gaming and robotics. Ready opens games creation to the world, with over 1 million makers and players. The Ready Games app delivers three, brand new mobile mini-games every week that anyone can play to win cash prizes. Ready Maker provides a creative platform that builds in the mediums of their client's time - mobile games, robotics, VR/AR.

Legendary Play

Series A in 2022
Legendary Play is a mobile game developer and publisher based in Berlin, Germany, established in 2017. The company specializes in creating games tailored for esports enthusiasts, focusing on delivering engaging and competitive experiences for mobile platforms. By combining innovative game design with an understanding of the esports community, Legendary Play aims to provide high-quality gaming experiences that resonate with fans of competitive gaming.

LIV

Series A in 2022
LIV Inc, formerly known as LIV Net Inc, is a technology company based in Prague, Czech Republic, specializing in virtual reality software for gaming. Established in 2013, LIV focuses on enabling VR live streamers to engage with their audiences in real-time, transforming viewers from passive spectators into active participants. Since its inception, the company has redefined the landscape of live-streamed gaming content, allowing creators to enhance their interactive experiences. Since launching in 2018, LIV's innovative approach has garnered over 1.5 billion views, showcasing its significant impact on the virtual reality and gaming communities.

Starform

Seed Round in 2021
Starform was started by industry veterans with the goal of changing the way people play games together. It puts together small, autonomous teams of talented game developers and provides them with the tools, infrastructure, and support to design and build games in partnership with players, enabling gamers to get state of the art graphics and quality entertainment. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Queens Gaming Collective

Seed Round in 2020
The Queens Gaming Collective, Inc., a gaming lifestyle company for women, provides women creators, streamers, and competitors with an access to infrastructure, resources, and agent representation. Its services include sourcing funding for a female-written comic book, finding distribution for a female-hosted gaming podcast, etc. The company also provides services in the areas of E-Commerce and merchandise, content and multimedia, and brand partnerships. The Queens Gaming Collective, Inc. was incorporated in 2020 and is based in West Hollywood, California.

VENN

Series A in 2020
VENN is a new 24/7 post-cable network aimed at gaming, esports and entertainment audiences. Launching in 2020 and broadcasting live from studios in New York and Los Angeles, VENN will be distributed across a broad range of media platforms and offer original programming produced in-house and in partnership with some of the biggest names and creators across industries.

Starform

Seed Round in 2020
Starform was started by industry veterans with the goal of changing the way people play games together. It puts together small, autonomous teams of talented game developers and provides them with the tools, infrastructure, and support to design and build games in partnership with players, enabling gamers to get state of the art graphics and quality entertainment. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

PlayBrain

Series A in 2020
PlayBrain is a content and gaming marketing company focused on developing and importing products for gamers. It provides a range of services, including targeted communication and content marketing, designed to help gaming brands effectively reach and engage with Japan's gaming community. The company also offers a platform that allows users to follow games, create posts, and participate in tournaments, fostering community interaction and enhancing the overall gaming experience. Through its efforts, PlayBrain aims to support brands in marketing their games and building strong connections within the esports and influencer media landscape.

Boom.tv

Series A in 2020
BoomTV is an Esports entertainment platform that provides tools to automate score tracking, streaming, and generating event hubs. Their mission is to enable communities to easily produce and partake in virtual Esports. At the core of it all is our self-driving Esports technology layer that provides a one-button solution for anyone to create, participate, and/or spectate Esports content.

PatronGG

Seed Round in 2019
PatronGG is a technology startup founded by esports veterans aiming to transform the way fans engage with esports. The company offers a central platform for fans to track their favorite teams and players, participate in discussions, and compete for recognition as top supporters. Their inaugural app, "Fnatic Nation," served as the official fan app for the esports organization Fnatic, facilitating the growth and monetization of their fanbase. Currently, PatronGG is expanding its vision by developing a unified application designed to connect fans and teams across the esports landscape, fostering vibrant fan communities through its mobile apps.

Legendary Play

Seed Round in 2019
Legendary Play is a mobile game developer and publisher based in Berlin, Germany, established in 2017. The company specializes in creating games tailored for esports enthusiasts, focusing on delivering engaging and competitive experiences for mobile platforms. By combining innovative game design with an understanding of the esports community, Legendary Play aims to provide high-quality gaming experiences that resonate with fans of competitive gaming.

VENN

Seed Round in 2019
VENN is a new 24/7 post-cable network aimed at gaming, esports and entertainment audiences. Launching in 2020 and broadcasting live from studios in New York and Los Angeles, VENN will be distributed across a broad range of media platforms and offer original programming produced in-house and in partnership with some of the biggest names and creators across industries.

Ready

Series A in 2019
Ready democratizes gaming with The Ready Games- DIY game tournaments- and Ready Maker, a platform for gaming and robotics. Ready opens games creation to the world, with over 1 million makers and players. The Ready Games app delivers three, brand new mobile mini-games every week that anyone can play to win cash prizes. Ready Maker provides a creative platform that builds in the mediums of their client's time - mobile games, robotics, VR/AR.

Strafe

Seed Round in 2019
Strafe is a lifestyle application designed for the global e-sports audience and fans. It enables users to track news, matches, and results in the rapidly evolving world of e-sports. With a significant and growing monthly user base, Strafe aims to tap into the vast potential of the approximately 300 million individuals who follow e-sports worldwide. The application focuses on delivering timely information and updates to enhance the experience of e-sports enthusiasts.

PlayBrain

Seed Round in 2019
PlayBrain is a content and gaming marketing company focused on developing and importing products for gamers. It provides a range of services, including targeted communication and content marketing, designed to help gaming brands effectively reach and engage with Japan's gaming community. The company also offers a platform that allows users to follow games, create posts, and participate in tournaments, fostering community interaction and enhancing the overall gaming experience. Through its efforts, PlayBrain aims to support brands in marketing their games and building strong connections within the esports and influencer media landscape.

Quarterback

Seed Round in 2018
Quarterback Inc. owns and operates a fan engagement platform. It allows gamers, streamers, sports teams, and content creators to continuously engage with their audiences by creating their own fan-club gaming leagues. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

The Story Mob

Seed Round in 2018
Founded by the industry’s most experienced communications professionals, The Story Mob is an international consultancy offering strategic communications counsel to brands, teams, on-air talent, startups and investors in the esports space. Based on years of experience with the world’s largest competitive gaming communities, they help you cut the fluff and create impactful, authentic outreach to esports fans. Whether you’re a legacy brand or new to the esports space, as your strategic communication partners they can help refine your message. They will engage your target audience, plan effective communications campaigns, manage media relations, help weather the storms and develop and deploy your own, unique esports voice. If you have a story, they have the megaphone.

Epics.gg

Seed Round in 2018
Epics.gg's mission is to provide the next generation of fans the rush, satisfaction, and long term value of collecting trading cards for their favorite esports teams, players, and influencers while also providing an integrated marketplace and trading system enabling users to buy, sell and build the ultimate collections.

Legendary Play

Seed Round in 2017
Legendary Play is a mobile game developer and publisher based in Berlin, Germany, established in 2017. The company specializes in creating games tailored for esports enthusiasts, focusing on delivering engaging and competitive experiences for mobile platforms. By combining innovative game design with an understanding of the esports community, Legendary Play aims to provide high-quality gaming experiences that resonate with fans of competitive gaming.

eSportsPools

Seed Round in 2017
eSportsPools is an online esports fantasy pools and betting destination. It offers eSports fans the extra fun of picking players from their favourite games to make fantasy teams and win prizes. Players are able to securely and safely bet on fantasy esports including CSGO, LOL, OW, PUBG, and Dota2.

H4X

Seed Round in 2017
H4X live & celebrate the esports lifestyle. They are here to make use of the digital world to reshape the physical reality. H4X try to bring that same spirit to their clothing design. Their approach is through the unique lens of the gaming community. H4X think about things like roomy fits (for all your gear), comfy fabrics that wick (never let them see you sweat), and reflective details (always let them see you shine). From thumbholes to ventilation holes, they’ve thought through every detail. So you have no worries—just wins.

PatronGG

Seed Round in 2017
PatronGG is a technology startup founded by esports veterans aiming to transform the way fans engage with esports. The company offers a central platform for fans to track their favorite teams and players, participate in discussions, and compete for recognition as top supporters. Their inaugural app, "Fnatic Nation," served as the official fan app for the esports organization Fnatic, facilitating the growth and monetization of their fanbase. Currently, PatronGG is expanding its vision by developing a unified application designed to connect fans and teams across the esports landscape, fostering vibrant fan communities through its mobile apps.

Bayes Holding

Series A in 2017
Bayes Holding, based in Berlin, Germany, specializes in developing tools and platforms aimed at enhancing the gaming experience for players. The company offers several products, including LOLSumo, a real-time virtual coaching application for League of Legends, which assists gamers in building orders and accessing critical match information. OVERSUMO serves as an overmatches virtual coach, providing performance analysis, gameplay tips, and hero guides. For DOTA 2 players, DOTASUMO offers post-game insights and tools for gameplay improvement. Additionally, Shadow.GG is a software-as-a-service platform that delivers analytics and data visualizations specifically for Counter-Strike. Bayes Holding also features BRUCE.GG, a platform that allows gamers to create and share videos of their gameplay, rate clips, and collaborate in coaching each other, while providing automatically generated highlights, match analysis, and tactical insights. The company was founded in 2014 by Christian Gruber, Jens Hilger, Markus Fuhrmann, and Mathias Kutzner.

Boom.tv

Seed Round in 2016
BoomTV is an Esports entertainment platform that provides tools to automate score tracking, streaming, and generating event hubs. Their mission is to enable communities to easily produce and partake in virtual Esports. At the core of it all is our self-driving Esports technology layer that provides a one-button solution for anyone to create, participate, and/or spectate Esports content.

Kek.tv

Seed Round in 2016
Kek.tv is a South Korean company founded in 2015 that specializes in developing an eSports video aggregation mobile application. This platform combines live streams, game video replays, news, statistics, and tournament feeds from multiple sources, creating a comprehensive and socially-curated experience for eSports enthusiasts. Currently in public beta, the app caters specifically to the increasing audience of Asian eSports fans, offering them a centralized hub for their gaming content.

Esports Business Solution

Seed Round in 2015
Esports Business Solutions is an eSports media and technology company. The company is listed in the commercial register of the local court Charlottenburg (Berlin). Founded in 2014, EBS is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.