Telkomsel Mitra Innovation (TMI) is reportedly involved in the series B round for the local esports team “EVOS Esports”. This is TMI’s debut to invest outside tech-based service startups.
DailySocial has contacted TMI and EVOS representatives to confirm, but they neither willing to comment on the issue.
In a general note, EVOS Sports is a Jakarta-based esports organization founded by Ivan Yeo, Hartman Harris, and Wesley Yiu in 2016. Apart from Indonesia, EVOS has esports teams in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In addition, EVOS has entered the content, merchandise, event, and Head of Talent (KOL) business under WHIM Management.
Meanwhile, Telkomsel Mitra Innovation is an investment arm founded by Telkomsel in 2019. The company focuses on investments in the IoT, big data, and entertainment (music, games and video) verticals. The goal is none other than to improve the digital business ecosystem, especially in the telecommunications industry. Some of TMI’s portfolios include PrivyID, Qlue, Roambee, Sekolahmu, and TADA.
Community as the new target user
EVOS ha received funding from venture capital several times, both domestic and foreign. Based on Hybrid data, Attention Holdings Pte. Ltd., EVOS’ parent company, raised $12 million in series B funding in October 2020.
The funding round was led by Korea Investment Partners and several other investors, including Mira Asset Ventures, Woowa Brothers, and IndoGen Capital. Also involved are Insignia Ventures Partners, which previously led the EVOS series A funding round in 2019.
IndoGen Capital’s Managing Partner Chandra Firmanto said, Indonesian esports fan base is very large that it attracts companies to enter this industry. “The Indonesian esports team will be successful as we have strength in the community. This is also due to the number of young Indonesians and their quite large spending,” he said.
In the context of TMI, Telkomsel already has its own esports team, Dunia Games (DG) Esports. However, referring to the above thesis, and if Telkomsel confirms this investment, there is a chance that the cellular market leader intend to target a wider new market segment.
Telkomsel can expand its telco business by targeting EVOS’ large community base. Quoting Kompas.com, Esports Charts data named EVOS as the most popular esports team in Southeast Asia. EVOS’ high reputation is reinforced by a total of 6.4 million followers on various social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
In addition, EVOS also provide membership programs, both free and subscription, which have been released since mid 2020. EVOS Esports’ Co-founder & CEO, Ivan Yeo said this program is the company’s strategy to win the millennial and gen Z market. EVOS is also known to collaborate with TikTok to grow their influencer business.
In fact, the Newzoo report states that the value of the global esports industry is estimated to reach $1.1 billion or Rp15.4 trillion in 2020. Meanwhile, the largest esports market is still controlled by China with a value of $385.1 million, followed by North America at $252.8. million.
In Indonesia, the mobile esports market continues to grow rapidly. Newzoo 2019 data states that 52 million of the total 82 million smartphone users are mobile game players. Revenue from the mobile game industry in Indonesia is estimated to contribute $624 million or equivalent to Rp8.7 trillion.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
