Quarterback raises $2.5 million fan-based esports league platform

Quarterback Inc. has set itself the monumentous task of bypassing Twitch and other esports leagues to offer a more direct platform for players and fans to connect. To that end, the company announced yesterday that it has raised $2.5 million in an initial seed funding round.

According to TechCrunch, the seed round was backed Bitkraft Esports, Crest Capital Ventures, Deep Space Ventures, and UpWest Labs. Funding will go toward continued creation and growth of Quarterback's esports gaming platform of the same name.

With esports revenue sources and viewership largely dominated by Twitch and publisher-created leagues, Quarterback Inc. purports to give both players and fans more control over how they reach one another. The platform lets esports players create their own clubs of fans who are connected both as they watch their favorite player compete or stream and as fans play their own games during downtime.

That focus on an audience remaining connected to their player of choice at all times and improving revenue for creators is the platform's main selling point. As Jens Hilgers of investor Bitkraft Esports Ventures put it:

"Most streamers and pros struggle to monetize their fan-base and lose touch with their audience when the fans break away to play their own games. Quarterback solves this problem in a unique way by helping streamers become an integral part of their fan's gameplay."

Connection of streamers to fans will include features such as setting up prize giveaways and letting players compete against other esports personalities in leagues they create. The platform is currently in beta.