INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
PlayVS, the startup building esports infrastructure at the high school level, has today announced the close of a $15 million Series A
The financing was led by New Enterprise Associates, with participation from existing investor Science, as well as CrossCut Ventures, Coatue
Management, Cross Culture Ventures, the San Francisco 49ers, Nas, Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, Twitch cofounder Kevin Lin, and
others.PlayVS first publicly launched out of the LA-based Science startup studio in April
The company partnered with the NFHS, the equivalent of the NCAA for high school-level sports, to build out leagues, rules and more around
high school esports.Most high school sports are governed by the NFHS, which writes the rules, hires referees, schedules seasons and
determines the format of playoffs and state championships
That same infrastructure might carry over from one high school sport to another, but esports represents a new challenge for the NFHS.PlayVS
brings to market a platform that schedules games, helps schools hold try-outs and form teams, and pulls in stats real-time from games thanks
to partnerships with game publishers.In October, PlayVS will launch its inaugural season, bringing organized esports to more than 18 states
and approximately 5 million students across 5,000 high schools.As esports continue to grow, colleges and professional organizations have
already started investing in scholarship programs and pro teams respectively
But whereas other high-level teams look at high school athletes for recruiting, the same infrastructure has not yet been put into place for
esports.PlayVS wants to change that
The new round of funding will go towards expanding the product and the team to eventually put PlayVS in every high school across the country
The company has yet to announce which schools will participate and which games will be available during the first season, but PlayVS has
confirmed that the games will be PC-based and will come from the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, Fighting and Sports genres.
