PlayBrain Secures $1.9 Million Investment from BITKRAFT Esports Ventures to Advance the Esports Industry in Japan

PlayBrain, a company that powers esports events in Japan, today announced a $1.9 million seed round led by BITKRAFT Esports Ventures. PlayBrain will use the new funding to scale the team, accelerate growth, and support costs to lead the creative direction, operation and commercialization of League of Legends Japan League (“LJL”). This also marks the first Western investment in esports in the Japanese market.

PlayBrain is the leading full-services esports tournament and media company in Japan, with the mission to help brands reach gamers and fans through large-scale esports event production. As a company dedicated to promoting the growth of gaming and esports in Japan, PlayBrain has partnered with Riot Games and Yoshimoto to lead in the operation of the LJL league. Established by Riot Games, LJL is the largest esports league in Japan. PlayBrain also works with the most prominent brands in gaming including, Activision Blizzard, EA, CD Projekt, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Twitch, Riot Games and Supercell.

“As a company that is multicultural and multilingual, we see ourselves as a bridge connecting the Japanese competitive gaming community to the rest of the world,” said PlayBrain Founder Mike Sheetal. “The investment from BITKRAFT Esports Ventures will enable us, and the Japanese esports market as a whole, to gain more ground in the global esports industry by developing the next generation esports cultural products born out of Tokyo’s distinct youth culture and helping foreign brands effectively enter, and engage, with Japan’s gaming community.”

“With a $19 billion games market, Japan is a sleeping giant in esports and is finally waking up and recognizing its potential to become one of the largest markets globally next to China and the US,” said BITKRAFT Founding Partner, Malte Barth. “This investment comes at the perfect time, ahead of the 2020 Olympics when all eyes will be on Tokyo, and Japan’s quickly growing esports ecosystem.”

For more information on PlayBrain, please visit https://playbrain.jp/.

About PlayBrain

Founded in 2016 in Tokyo, Japan, PlayBrain is the leading producer of esports tournaments and culture in Japan. It was founded by Mike Sheetal with a mission to reach gamers and game fans through large-scale esports event production and development of the competitive gaming culture. PlayBrain has been the architect behind some of the largest competitive gaming leagues and events in Japan.

Website: https://playbrain.jp

About BITKRAFT Esports Ventures

An early and mid-stage investor focused on the esports sector, BITKRAFT discovers, supports, and scales esports startups globally along with the industry’s most influential companies.

BITKRAFT Esports Ventures was founded in 2017 by esports legend, Jens Hilgers. Hilgers previously founded ESL and served as CEO before selling the majority stake to MTG in 2015. In addition to serving as Managing Partner at BITKRAFT, Jens is the Co-Founder and Chairman of G2 Esports, and the CEO of DOJO Madness.

BITKRAFT launched a Venture Fund in 2018, and is active in Berlin, Los Angeles and San Francisco, the epicenters of the western esports world.