Philipp Kindt and Evgeny Astakhov of Atlas Ventures were the first to invest in Tier One Entertainment (Tier One). Due to the company's success and ambitious plans for expansion in Southeast Asia, other companies have taken notice and have also invested with the company.
Tier One is a Gaming and eSports company with big dreams. It is on the verge of establishing an independent hub in the Philippines after recently securing funds from a recent pre-series A round. It is the first of many entities in the region that have found the niche of gaming and esports, it is estimated that as of this writing the sector is worth over $160 billion.
In a statement earlier this year, Tier One announced that, in addition to the initial investment of Kindt and Astakhov's VC, Atlas Ventures, Gobi Partners led another fund-raising round through its joint-venture fund, with Core Capital and the US record label conglomerate Warner Music Group Corp joining too. Bitkraft Ventures, a multibillion-dollar VC dropped its hat in the ring too. Some of Bitkraft Ventures powerhouse clients include GroupM, Foodpanda, Unilever, Riot games, Samsung, and Smart Communications.
Tire One stated it will also widen its presence in other Asian countries with the capital infusion it has received so far. As of now, it is currently operating in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Myanmar.
With Tier One securing support from capital firms, founder and CEO Tryke Gutierrez said that the company is "now poised for explosive growth." As an international gaming company in the region with many talented and game enthused populations, the company could expand exponentially. Capitol has been earmarked to hire backend teams that will further support the company's talents. This is in addition to expanding eSports operations in Tier One's eSports team dubbed Blacklist International.
Gutierrez also stated that "The gaming industry is going through a golden age and this funding will help accelerate our growth by allowing us to replicate our success in other markets. In just a few years of operations, we've found a winning formula in eSports and gaming by developing a robust business model around top tier content creation and authentic distribution."
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the new Delta Variant that is crossing borders, employers at times have forced their employees to work from home. So far this has had unanticipated yet beneficial outcomes. Maintenance costs are down, employees are enjoying a more even home to work like balance that has ultimately made them more efficient. This is good news for the gaming industry has large sects of the world's population can log in at their leisure.
Tier One Co-founder Alodia Gosiengfiao, meanwhile, expressed her gratitude toward the investors, especially Atlas Ventures, noting that the new funding will bring the "company to the next level."
"We have come a long way since our first business meeting at my home in 2017. With the growth of mobile gaming, streaming, and eSports as an avenue for youth (and adult) entertainment, we came up with the foresight to develop and house these talents by building our very own YG Entertainment of gaming," said Gosiengfiao, who is also a famous cosplayer.
The company as of now has approximately 420 talented individuals with a cumulative reach of 100.9 million different users on Facebook, 23.5 million views on YouTube, 11.8 million on Instagram, and 9.1 million views on Tiktok.
