BLAST secures €12.7m investment to support global expansion plans

Esports tournament organiser BLAST has raised €12.7m (~£11m) in its latest funding round to help accelerate the company’s growth worldwide.

The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), alongside a number of internal investors, has backed BLAST as the company looks to head towards profitability in 2023.

In a press release, BLAST shared that the funding round will help strengthen and expand the company’s position as a leading developer of global esports ecosystems. The funds will enable BLAST to continue producing esports events worldwide in collaboration with game publishers, such as Valve, Ubisoft, and Epic Games.

Moreover, BLAST aims to upscale its technology offerings and broadcast infrastructure. The tournament organiser currently runs an esports broadcasting and production studio in Denmark as well as the live viewing platform BLAST.tv.

BLAST is an esports tournament and entertainment brand known for its involvement in the CS:GO scene. The company operates one of the largest esports series in the Counter-Strike competitive calendar with BLAST Premier. Moreover, BLAST runs esports ecosystems for Rainbow Six Siege (BLAST Rainbow Six) and Fortnite (FNCS).

Since its establishment, BLAST has taken significant steps to secure and elevate its stake in the esports industry. In May 2020, the organisation raised €12.5m (~£10.8m) in a funding round led by the CEO of the Danish investment fund Vækstfonden.

BLAST also hosts an esports entertainment programme in collaboration with game publishers called BLAST Development.

The company’s expansion over the last 12 months includes the Paris Major not only being BLAST first CS:GO Major, but the title’s final ever Major before its transition to Counter-Strike 2. The company has also introduced a formal bidding process for its 2024 host locations and renewed its partnership with esports data platform Shikenso Analytics.

Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST, commented on the latest funding round: “2023 has been a record breaking year for BLAST, we have been able to create incredible esports ecosystems with the world’s biggest game publishers while taking events to iconic locations all around the world. This investment is another important step in our journey, which will allow us to further build on this work and elevate our in-house technology, production and broadcast capabilities as we head towards profitability in 2023.

“Over the last three years we have doubled our staffbase and increased our revenue by 11 times – we are proud of this progress and are excited at what the future holds for BLAST.”