US-based eSports franchise operator Cloud9 has closed a $25m series A round backed by video game developer FunPlus and talent agency United Talent Agency (UTA), ESPN reported on Monday.
Sports entertainment producer World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), sports agency Beverly Hills Sports Council and venture capital firm Founders Fund also participated in the round, alongside assorted individual investors.
UTA and FunPlus invested through their respective corporate venturing units, UTA Ventures and FunPlus Ventures.
Cloud9 manages a range of eSports teams that compete in leagues for multiplayer games such as Rocket League, Counter-Strike and Vainglory.
The company started out in 2013 with the acquisition of Quantic Gaming, which focused on online battle arena game League of Legends, and was recently awarded the London franchise for a league based on a title called Overwatch that will launch in 2018.
George Barrios, WWE’s chief strategy and financial officer, told ESPN: “We just looked around the space, looked at all the players and did our own evaluation of who we thought would be successful in the long term.”
UTA and FunPlus were first revealed as investors in a securities filing in October this year that showed Cloud9 had raised $19.7m of a planned $25m round. Another filing shows the company received $2.8m in a November 2016 funding round.