Dubai, UAE, 21 June 2023 – 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, announced the closing of a $12.4 million investment in GGTech Entertainment. GGTech is a leader in the gaming and esports environment and one of the main organisers of esports events and competitions worldwide, which has experienced exponential growth in recent years. The objective of this investment is to help GGTech consolidate its presence in the Middle East & North Africa, Europe, and Latin America, as well as to 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 MENA, 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 provide 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 MENA, GGTech (through MENATech) develops Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports. It is a project present in 16 countries on 4 continents, which seeks to integrate the recreational and competitive aspects of video games with educational activities. Each of these countries offers workshops presented by professionals in the esports industry to university students interested in learning more about the industry.
This program also gives students a chance to get their first paid work experience in areas such as broadcasting, event planning, marketing, and community management.
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. Esports is the marriage of video games, competition and audiences through the live broadcasting of tournaments. It is the combination of three aspects, competitive gaming, the thrill of participation and the experience of being a spectator of your favourite games.
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 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.
José Parrilla, co-founder and CEO of GGTech Entertainment: “As the leading organiser of multi-language esports events and tournaments in MENA, Europe, 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 plays games on a regular basis. Moreover, according to various studies by international consulting firms, this trend is expected to consolidate and even increase over the next decade. Our goal is for GGTech to participate in this trend and strengthen its presence in these markets over the next few years. To this end, we also have the support of major brands and publishers, with whom we already have solid alliances, to contribute to growth in the US market. We will also be looking for investment opportunities in the sector.”
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.”
