Chinese Esports Company VSPN Secures $100M Series B Funding Round, Led by Tencent Holdings

Chinese esports production company Versus Programming Network (VSPN) announced today that it has raised close to $100M USD in a Series B funding round, led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings. Other investors who participated in this round include Kuaishou, Tiantu Capital, and Susquehanna International Group (SIG).

After this funding round, VSPN has become one of the biggest tournament organizers in the world.

According to the announcement, VSPN will upgrade its esports strategic developments including content production, tournament organizing, offline venue operation, esports merchandise innovation, and general overseas expansion.

“We look forward to building an esports research institute, an esports culture park, and further expanding globally,” VSPN CEO Dino Ying stated in the announcement “VSPN has a long-term vision and is dedicated to the sustainable development of the global ecosystem.”

VSPN was founded in 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai Jingan district. The company closed its Series A funding round led by Focus Media Network. After four years of development, VSPN has become China’s biggest third-party tournament organizer, covering 70% of Chinese esports tournaments, including Honor of Kings, PUBG, Peacekeeper Elite, CrossFire, QQ Speed, Clash Royale, as well as PUBG MOBILE international competitions.

In addition, VSPN also branded esports venues in the cities of Chengdu, Xi’an, and Shanghai, and Seoul. The company currently houses more than 1,000 employees in five business divisions.

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“VSPN’s long-term company vision and leading position in esports production are vital for Tencent to optimize the layout of the esports industry’s development,” Mars Hou, General Manager of Tencent Esports commented on the funding round.

During the 2020 Tencent Global Esports Summit in Hainan, Mark Ren, COO of Tencent Holdings, also mentioned that the company will provide more esports competitions, in conjunction with tournament organizers like VSPN.