Posted in: eSports, Games, Video Games | Tagged: eSports, Gen.G, will smith

Actor Will Smith Helps Invests $46 Million Into Gen.G Esports

Published Fri, 19 Apr 2019 16:40:57 -0500

Last updated Fri, 19 Apr 2019 16:44:52 -0500

Will Smith just made headlines this week in the gamer side of entertainment as the actor has helped invest $46 million into Gen.G Esports. The team made the announcement on their website today that a round of people helped contribute to the endeavor, which included Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda's Dreamers Fund, Los Angeles Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong, former Chairman of US Investments Alibaba Group Michael Zeisser, and MasterClass Co-Founder and CEO David Rogier. Additional participants include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Conductive Ventures, Battery Ventures, Canaan Partners, SVB Capital, and Stanford University. We have a few quotes below about the endeavor, but its pretty safe to say the team has a pretty bright future for the next couple years.

"We are grateful for the support of a remarkable group of investors that is as diverse as the future of esports itself," said Park. "Our partners in this round share Gen.G's mission to reimagine sports entertainment as only an authentically global esports organization can."

"I am excited that Dreamers Fund, the fund that I co-launched with Will Smith, is now investing in Gen.G," said Honda. "Esports is not yet big in Japan, but we are seeing tremendous growth there and globally, which is very positive. We decided to invest in Gen. G because of their incredible team and grand vision to become a leader in the space. We truly look forward to working with Gen.G to boost the esports industry around the world."

"This is an incredible step for Gen.G and the vision we have for the organization," said Arnold Hur, Chief Operating Officer at Gen.G. "With the support of our new investors, we're excited to bring several priorities to fruition including our LA headquarters, our continued expansion into China, our always evolving player development academy programs and a big priority for us in 2020, which is hosting Dynasty matches in Seoul! There is a lot of work to be done and we are very proud to have these investors on our team."

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