Esports tournament platform Mainline closes $6.8m funding round

Esports tournament platform Mainline has announced the closing of a $6.8 million Series A funding round to bolster its tournament-creation platform.

The funding round was led by Work America Capital, and included investments from other individual investors, some of whom invest in traditional sports.

With the funding, Mainline intends to improve its esports tournament platform of the same name with new hires, more marketing budget, and partnerships with major brands. The software launched in its current form in 2016, focused originally on collegiate esports and has since grown to serve as a tournament-creation and event platform used by organizations such as Dreamhack, PUBG Corp, and Clutch Gaming.

"As with any industry that takes off like a rocket, problems arise that must be solved through innovation," said Work America Capital managing partner Mark Toon. "Mainline is standardizing, organizing and optimizing the esports industry, paving the way for more players, more teams, more money and bigger, better tournaments."