Hello and welcome back to our regular morning look at private companies, public markets and the gray space in between.Today were taking a look at the world of esports venture capital investment, largely through the lens of preliminary data that well caveat given how reported VC data lags reality.
That phenomenon is likely doubly true in the current moment, as COVID-19 absorbs all news cycles and some venture rounds announcements are delayed even more than usual.All the same, the data we do have paints a picture of a change in esports venture investment, one sufficient in size to indicate that an esports VC slowdown could be afoot.
As with all early looks, were extending ourselves to reach a conclusion.
But no risk, no reward.Well start by looking at Q1 2020 esports venture totals to date, compare them to year-ago results, and then peek at Q4 2019s results and its year-ago comparison to get a handle on what else has happened lately in the niche.
The picture that the quarters draw will help us understand how esports investing is starting a year that isnt going as anyone expected.Today were using Crunchbase data, looking at both global and United States -specific venture totals in both round and dollar volume.
To get a picture of the competitive gaming world, were examining investments into companies that are tagged as esports related in the Crunchbase database.
Given that this is a somewhat wide cut, the data below is more directional than precise and should be treated as such.