Bayes secures $6m investment to fund expansion plans

Participating in the funding round were the Pohlad family investment group, family of financier Carl Pohlad, which owns the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball franchise.

Also involved were Fertitta Capital, the private investment firm founded by the former owners of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, technology giant Sony’s Innovation Fund, as well as other sports and media investors.

The funding will be used to develop new platform features for both data suppliers and consumers.

It comes with Bayes on track to become profitable in 2020, driven by significant year-on-year revenue growth. This has been aided by major data partnerships with tournament organiser ESL and League of Legends publisher Riot Games.

Growth is being driven by Bayes’ joint venture with Sportradar, Bayes Esports Solutions, and its Shadow.GG analytics and data visualisation product suite.

“With our two business units, we are able to provide a never-seen-before depth of data when it comes to professional esports tournaments and matches globally,” Bayes co-founder and managing director Jens Hilgers. “This provides a great starting point for the creation of new services and products leading to greater entertainment offerings for the esports fans and community.”

New investor Charlie Pohlad added: “The collection, refinement and distribution of esports leagues’ data, combined with the provision of products on top of it, is necessary to further professionalize the esports ecosystem and grow the overall market.

“We have high conviction in the Bayes team, and believe that Bayes’ technology and esports data platform represent the best solution for all stakeholders to advance the industry at large.”