Sports apparel brand Adidas and Samsung Next, the corporate venturing arm of electronics manufacturer Samsung, have participated in a $30.5m series B round for US-based eSports league operator PlayVS.
Media holding company WndrCo also took part in the round, which was led by Elysian Park Ventures, the investment firm that manages baseball franchise LA Dodgers’ venture capital fund.
The round also featured VC firms New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Crosscut Ventures and Plexo Capital, startup studio Science Inc, hedge fund Coatue Management and several angel investors including rapper and entrepreneur Sean Combs.
Founded in 2017, PlayVS has created an online platform and infrastructure that enables students to represent their high schools in a national eSports league.
Having secured a partnership with game publishers and the National Federation of State High School Associations, the series B funding will help PlayVS add three more game titles to its platform and expand its reach into high schools in the states of Alabama, Mississippi, and parts of Texas.
The series B round comes just five months after PlayVS closed a $15.5m series A round led by NEA that included WndrCo, Science, Crosscut and Coatue Management.