Competitive esports platform nicecactus.gg has raised over $5 million from private investors in Series A funding. The platform, formerly known as Esport-Management, was rebranded to nicecactus in reference to the company’s hometown of Nice, France. The company also revealed the Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund, a $1.1 million grant program which aims to help up-and-coming players in furthering their esports careers.
Nicecactus was founded in 2017 under the name Esport-Management. The platform was built to provide amateur players with professional guides, tips, training, and other resources needed to build a career as a professional gamer. The company has partnered with multiple esports brands including G2 Esports and DreamHack. The platform works across a number of popular esports titles, most notably Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends.
The Nicecactus Grassroots program launches with the goal of aiding amateur and semi-professional players in moving forward towards a career in esports. The $1.1 million Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund plans to award the most committed and promising players with grants - to be used for travel, equipment upgrades, and other typical competitive gaming costs. “Our promise to the grassroots community is that nicecactus.gg helps players realize their true potential within competitive gaming. We do this by offering regular cash prize tournaments, providing access to pro esports guides and – in the near future – offering unique training games for our players to train and assess their progress,” says marketing director Nic van ‘t Schip. “We are proud to provide a platform for everyone to level up their game. And now, with our Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund, we’re excited to provide a new service to help the best-of-the-best reach the next rank in their esports careers.”
Registration for the Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund opened on October 22nd. The next phase, named the “Road to Sponsorship,” begins on December 20th. Fund applications for qualifying players will open on January 27th, with the first grants being awarded in the following month. “We deeply believe that if esports wants to enter the next stage of growth, it must be catered to and fostered at the grassroots level,” states nicecactus.gg co-found Alexandre Amoukteh. “By starting the Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund and raising additional capital to help unleash the full potential of every esports athlete, we further solidify our commitment to finding and raising the next generation of esports athletes.”
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