Glisco Partners, a leading growth equity investment firm for disruptive and cross-border high-growth companies, and Heart Beat, an investment manager focused on the Americas, has announced the closing of a $12.4 million investment in Spanish company GGTech Entertainment. A leader in the gaming and esports environment, GGTech is one of the main organisers of esports events and competitions worldwide, which has experienced exponential growth in recent years. This investment will see GGTech consolidate its global presence across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America, as well as accelerate its entry into the US market, one of the largest gaming and esports markets in the world.
GGTech Entertainment is an international company with a presence in Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East and North Africa, dedicated to the development of innovative leisure, entertainment and education projects through gaming, esports and technology. The company offers a wide range of technological solutions to promote the development of society and provides the best leisure, competition and entertainment experiences. GGTech has an international team of highly qualified professionals focused on the creation and operation of products in the gaming and sports industry, and is making significant progress in the development of applied technology.
In the UK, GGTech develops Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports. Present in 16 countries across 4 continents, the project seeks to integrate the recreational and competitive aspect of video games with educational activities. Each country offers workshops presented by professionals in the esports industry to university students interested in learning more about the industry.
GGTech recently announced the acquisition of NUEL, UK-based grassroots esports tournament and community organiser.
José Parrilla, co-founder and CEO of GGTech Entertainment: “As the leading organiser of multi-language esports events and tournaments in Europe, MENA and Latin America, we are very confident about our growth prospects in the US. Video games, and esports in particular, have been growing in popularity year after year, especially in the US, where more than half of the US population play games on a regular basis. This trend is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade and our goal at GGTech is to strengthen our presence in this market over the next few years. We also have the support of major brands and publishers, who we already have solid alliances with, to help contribute to our growth in the US market.
Commenting on the investment, Alfredo Castellanos, Managing Partner at Glisco Partners, said: “Our investment in GGTech is part of our strategy to help highly disruptive companies grow their market share and enter the US market. GGTech is particularly attractive because of its proven business model and strategy to leverage its content production studios in Mexico and Spain to serve the growing esports market in the US.”
Industry numbers
The video games industry reached more than 3 billion players worldwide and revenues of $192.7 billion in 2021, making it the second largest segment of global entertainment. According to the latest research from Statista, esports had a global audience of over 532 million viewers in 2022, including enthusiasts and casual viewers. This is an increase of more than 60 million on the previous year and makes esports the second most watched sport in the United States, after the NFL.