Philippine-based e-sports and gaming startup Tier One Entertainment has secured an undisclosed amount of funding in its pre-Series A round, led by Gobi Partners. The round was participated by Warner Music Group, Octava, as well as existing investors including Kayac and Atlas Ventures.
Tier One is set to expand to other countries in Asia, beyond its established markets of Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. With the new capital, it will beef up its backend teams and build a new content creation division in the Philippines.
The company started in 2017 managing online influencers, and later shifted its business to the gaming and e-sports market. Tier One currently lists 420 gaming and e-sports influencers which it places with corporate clients like Foodpanda, Unilever, Riot Games, and Samsung. It claims to have a cumulative reach of over 145 million users across its digital channels that span Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
The regional entertainment sector has seen strong investor interest recently. Earlier this month, Singapore-based Play Ventures announced the closing of its Play Ventures Fund II, a USD 135 million fund that is set to invest in early-stage gaming business across the world. In October, e-sports platform Attention Holdings, the parent company of Jakarta-based EVOS Esports, bagged USD 12 million in its Series B round led by Korea Investment Partners.
