David Beckham’s esports org wants to raise £20m on London stock market

David Beckham’s esports company, Guild Esports, plans to raise $20m to reach a valuation of $50m just three months after launching.

Guild Esports was first incorporated in September 2019, but officially launched in June 2020, now housing players in both FIFA 20 and Rocket League.

Now, the team plans to go even further and build on the success they’ve already achieved by becoming the first esports org to float on the London Stock Exchange.

As reported by The Guardian , Guild Esports wants to raise £20m on the stock market, with the aim of bringing the company’s overall valuation to £50m.

The organization has several plans for the money raised by floating on the LSE. Proceeds from the share placing will be used to recruit new players, invest in the Guild brand and expand the company’s activities.

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On top of FIFA and Rocket League, Guild reportedly also plan on fielding teams in Fortnite and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which would truly start pitting Beckham’s teams against the biggest endemic teams in the industry.

Guild will be the first esports franchise to join the London stock market,” said Guild’s executive chairman Carleton Curtis. “It will provide us with the cache, credibility and capital to fulfil our ambition to become one of the world’s top 10 esports franchises within three years.”

This doesn’t appear to be Guild’s only planned stream of income, though. Curtis continued: “the growing global popularity of esports has enabled several existing franchises to monetise their activities through sponsorship, retail merchandising, apparel and product licensing, new media and mobile, broadcasting and tournaments.”

Guild Esports, which already raised £5m of private funding ahead of its launch, plans to build a “player training and scouting infrastructure modelled on the talent academies pioneered by Premier League football.”

Raising £20m would significantly help Guild on their way to achieving their target of becoming a significant player in the esports space within the next three years — though only time will tell.