100 Thieves head straight for LA – funding series B & new headquarters!

One of the better-known organisations in the esports world, 100 Thieves, just achieved two major milestones in their journey. The first is the successful conclusion of their B-series founding round. $35 million were pledged to the group by a series of big names, including ACM’s Chief Investment Officer Josh Dienstag joining Mike Sepso, MLG co-founder, on the board of directors and Aglaé Ventures, which is the technology investment firm of Groupe Arnault, controlling shareholder of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. They actually raised more than they wanted – the goal of the funding round was ‘only’ $25 million, however it was very oversubscribed.

© Eric Ananmalay

This knocks 100 Thievs value above the $160 million mark – not bad for a group only founded in 2017. In October 2018, they were valued at roughly $90 million – that’s an incredible increase and spectacular expansion in so short an amount of time. 100 Thieves has three revenue channels in total – esports, where the org competes in Call of Duty, League of Legends as well as  Fortnite, then content creation where they signed several big-name streamers with millions of followers in total, and finally their apparel sales, which includes limited edition sweaters, jackets and shirts.

They are considering expanding into new games like CS:GO, Rainbow 6 Siege and Rocket League as well, but those ideas are secondary to their other big topic: building a new headquarter facility. The location they chose – LA – could not be more central and relevant, with plenty of infrastructure and even more growth potential once their new HQ is complete. They plan on housing all three revenue channels under one roof – a total of 15.000 square feet will be dedicated to streaming stations, a content production sound stage for their two podcasts, as well as a storefront for their production of apparel.

As of right now, everything in their online store is sold out, meaning they’ll first have to ramp up production and/or design of their products to offer significantly higher quantities of product to sell to their fans. Matthew Haag, CEO and founder, has spoken about their current lack of apparel on offer: “What’s hurt me the most is having so many community members not be able to purchase this apparel for themselves,” said Haag. “We want 100 Thieves to be all inclusive. If you want to support us, you should be able to.”

While fans probably appreciate the sentiment, they appreciate the exclusivity too – along with the new HQ, 100 Thieves will have to revisit their current strategy and adjust for the challenges that come with having a physical storefront in addition to their content creation facilities. Haag has other big plans as well – he wants to register a new Call of Duty league for next year. Price point: Another $25 million, more or less. Whether that particular dream will come true remains to be seen, but for now, 100 Thieves can be proud to know that they did a fantastic job in expanding their brand.