Fnatic has announced a $17m funding round led by one of the largest conglomerates in Japan, Marubeni Corporation. Fnatic is planning its expansion into the growing Japanese esports sector and the substantial Asia-Pacific market.
The investment from Marubeni will accelerate Fnatic’s growth in the substantial Asia-Pacific market with a new strategic partnership that will incorporate the expansion of Fnatic’s base of operations in Japan and support for Fnatic’s Rainbow 6 Siege team who plan to relocate to the country.
“We’re so excited to have the strategic know-how of Marubeni leading this funding round. Marubeni’s knowledge of Japan’s business landscape will be a huge asset to Fnatic as we expand our commitment to APAC.”
Sam Mathews, Fnatic CEO
Fnatic has previously ventured into the Asia-Pacific market, signing its PUBG mobile roster in 2019. In March 2021, Fnatic released the roster, but reassured fans that they were “actively looking for ways to expand our presence in India”.
Fnatic isn’t the western esports team to start their expansion into Asia. In 2019, we saw Team Vitality launch a new base of operations in Mumbai, India. With the appointment of Guillaume de Monplanet as Team Vitality’s Co-CEO earlier this year, Team Vitality is also fully committed to its global expansion. In 2020, TSM revealed that Entity Gaming and TSM will be partnering for PUBG Mobile competitions. This isn’t a first time thing is what I’m getting at.
Fnatic will now look to strengthen its position in the rapidly growing esports industry, which is anticipated to generate $1.08bn in revenue in 2021. Newzoo projects that the worldwide esports audience will grow to 474 million people in 2021, with 92.8 million enthusiasts in China alone. This global audience is expected to reach more than 577 million by 2024.
The Japanese esports industry is a significant and growing market, expected to increase in value by more than 250 per cent between 2019 and 2023. More than 6.9 million people attended esports events in Japan in 2020, a 42 per cent increase on the previous year.
