There are currently over 1.2 billion gamers worldwide investing their time in sharpening their skills across the most popular video game titles. Additionally, it is expected that 144 billion hours will collectively be spent playing video games by the end of 2018. One startup is on a mission to help video gamers who play competitively turn their efforts into earnings every time they pick up a controller.
One Up, founded this year, is providing a mobile app that instantly connects gamers who want to compete for cash with others who are like-minded and interested. One Up then seamlessly processes payment to the winner directly through its mobile app and takes a commission of 10% per use to facilitate the transaction and ensure there is no foul play.
The company, which describes its product as an on-demand e-sports app, plans to leverage the phenomenal growth of video gaming, which has seen a boost in exposure and participation with the rise of e-sports competitions, and offer a service that the video gaming community should find valuable. It recognizes that the video game industry’s console gaming global revenue streams will total approximately $34.6 billion by the end of the year, a 4.1% increase from 2017, according to Newzoo’s annual Global Games Market Report released in early 2018. Additionally, research firm SuperData says that global revenue for the e-sports sector should reach $2.3 billion by 2022.
The substantial projections in connection with e-sports and the video game industry have made investors interested in One Up. Recently, the company closed a $2 million seed round led by Boston-based Three Curve Capital. With the funding in hand, One Up plans to create more products, services and experiences in the video gaming space to help gamers monetize their skills.
“With the rise of e-sports, I’ve seen unparalleled year-over-year growth across viewership, advertising revenue and total hours played,” says One Up's chief operating officer, Stu Porter. “To me, this indicates that the demand for competition has never been higher. That is why One Up is on a mission to make playing video games for money as simple and entertaining as possible.”
One Up officially began targeting the video gaming market in late September with the launch of its first product, which is available for download on iOS devices and will allow gamers to connect with opponents and place wagers on themselves with the tap of a button. Keeping the process simple, safe and secure by facilitating payment, making sure the true winners get paid and allowing gamers to book a game in a few clicks is important for the company, says its founder, Brandon Pitts.
Pitts promises enhancements to the app and the overall experience with time and suggests that gamers will eventually be able to unlock access to compete against pro athletes and celebrities. He says that the company is in the midst of building an Andoid app, an Xbox app and more features to help gamers generate additional revenue, as well as live stream; these features should be live by early 2019, Pitts says.
One Up's most significant competition may be in the form of Unikrn, which was founded in November 2014 and has raised roughly $41 million to date. However, Unikrn enables users to place wagers on the results of other competitors, mainly in tournament-styled game play, while One Up is primarily focused on allowing gamers to stake money on their own results.
