Esports startup with KC co-founder announces $3M in seed funding, targets Web3 gaming
May 31, 2023 | Startland News Staff
An early funding round is expected to help a new professional esports organization expand the creator economy alongside its own footprint, said Nate Schanker, announcing a $3 million seed round for Boston-based M80, a startup coded with Kansas City talent.
Nate Schanker, M80
“We are building something special that the esports industry has never seen before and we aren’t slowing down anytime soon,” said Schanker, the KC-based co-founder, referencing the startup’s plans to “put power in the hands of fans.” “This is just the beginning of M80.”
Led by Santa Monica-based ExpertDojo, boutique investment firm VT Technology Ventures, and Silicon Valley-based Practical Venture Capital, the $3 million funding round solidifies M80’s plans to build the first web3-enabled gaming and esports organization, company officials said.
“In just a few short months, we’ve become one of the fastest-growing and most engaged-with esports organizations in the world,” said Marco Mereu, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “We are leaning into the creator economy to offer meaningful and rewarding ways for our community to engage with the M80 brand. And we’re just getting started.”
Marco Mereu, M80
Mereu previously co-founded esports brand XSET, launching gaming-first video platform Framerate and building the influencer marketplace Roostr. Under his stewardship, M80 is building an interconnected, tech-forward ecosystem that prioritizes fan engagement through esports, content creation, and consumer products, the company said.
Of the startup’s team, only Schanker and his brother, M80 chief of staff Max Schanker (both co-founders of the Digital Sandbox KC-funded Overland Park startup SWOT, which wound down in 2022) are based in Kansas City.
M80’s esports teams have already achieved standout performance across VALORANT, Rocket League, Rainbow Six: Siege, and Street Fighter. In the few months following its competitive debut, M80 has garnered a global reach of nearly 12 million across social platforms — making it one of the top 10 most engaged-with esports organizations in North America less than six months from launch.
“With its launch, M80 is bringing a fresh, tech-forward approach to the gaming and esports landscape,” said Brian Mac Mahon, founder of ExpertDojo. “This initial funding round represents our confidence in M80’s innovative vision and seasoned executive leadership. Marco and the M80 team are building something truly unique in the space, and we are pleased to help them scale.”
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KCPS superintendent to city struggling with violence: When do we all come together?
It’s inexcusable for Kansas City to simply accept 130 murders before it’s even December, Mark Bedell said. “Who do you think are committing these crimes?” Bedell, superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools, asked a crowd gathered Thursday for the Lean Lab’s Launch[ED) Day. “Probably people who have been victims of schools that have failed them…
Kauffman Foundation rolls out $1.2M microlending program to help underserved entrepreneurs
Amid a swarm of 160 events as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced a new microlending program to spur investment in underserved entrepreneurs. In partnership with four microfinance lenders, the foundation issued a series of grants totaling $1.2 million that a will change the way the nonprofit microlenders capitalize their…
Scared away from networking events? Anti-social introverts can turn to tech
Networking strength comes in numbers — even for anti-social introverts, Jeremy A. Smith told a crowd Tuesday at Global Entrepreneurship Week. “Anti-social people, myself included, hate events,” he said. But like all other entrepreneurs, such introverts still must build and maintain actionable professional networks from which they can request and receive value, Smith said. In-person networking…
Longfellow Farm coworking the soil amid KC’s urban food desert
In a city ripe with coworking office spaces, there’s a hunger for similar environments outdoors, Ami Freeberg said. As with maintaining individual workplaces, traditional urban farming also can be isolating and expensive, the Longfellow Farm manager said. By working together, however, the collaborative process allows for shared resources, greater human expertise and, of course, more…