Israeli startup raises $2m to develop the next-gen academy platform for Esports teams

 
Edge Gaming is looking to revolutionize the competitive gaming world, with a new system that analyses and trains players to become professional gamers
Israeli startup Edge Gaming has just announced its pre-seed round, raising $2m to develop an Academy platform for Esports clubs and gamers. Leading the round are AnD Ventures and Stardom Ventures, two early stage Israeli VCs focusing on consumer & media. Prior to raising the round, The company has been part of the IDCX Studio accelerator program.
The Edge academy platform will enable Esports clubs to invite their large global fanbase into a virtual hub of plentiful competitive gaming experiences. Coupled with other content creation and community activities – the academy hub will enable players to develop and enhance themselves in the best way as professional gamers. Players will be able to join a unique “path to pro” program, train and develop their skills at the level required from professional Esports players, earn rewards, climb the leaderboards and create exciting gaming content with their peers. For Esports clubs, the academy is looking to open a whole new dimension for harnessing their powerful brand power and influence, allowing them to build a pivotal new scalable revenue channel, driven by memberships, special items and other gaming monetization channels that Edge is developing.
The platform’s core technology relies on a novel gaming skills engine, which was developed by renowned sports performance experts, neuroscientists, Esports coaches and AI engineers. The engine analyzes the player’s reactions, thought process and playing style, and then creates specific exercise patterns aimed at developing the player’s cognitive and gaming skills.
The company was founded by brothers Asaf Gazit (CEO) and Omri Gazit (COO). Both were previously officers in the Israeli special forces, gaining extensive experience in training cognitive skills for elite performance scenarios. With Edge, they’ve set out to combine their knowledge with their other big passion: competitive gaming.
“In our military service, we prepared soldiers for some of the most complicated situations a person can endure. We found that despite the obvious differences, training scenarios for soldiers and for professional Esports players are actually quite comparable,” said CEO Asaf Gazit.
“In Esports, players are required to process a great deal of information in a matter of seconds. The engine we are developing, which is a first of its kind in the market, is designed to answer that need, and others, through a 4 stage flow. First it deeply analyzes the players’ ability to process information and react, followed by mapping the results using our science-backed cognitive skills models. Next, the engine shows the player where and how they need to improve, with easy-to-grasp visuals and animations, instead of overwhelming statistics. Finally, it automatically builds for each player a set of personalized exercises and a training program. This level of end-to-end training experience is what aspiring players and Esports clubs have been deliberately looking for” Gazit added.
Roy Geva Glasberg, Managing Partner at AnD Ventures: “The Esports space is already generating billions in revenue, and is growing at a double-digit rate year over year. Our investment in Edge was driven by our conviction in the founders and their vision to bring an exciting new experience to the market of 100s of millions of gamers. The Edge Academy and its underlying technology hold a tremendous opportunity to unlock substantial value & growth for the 3 key stakeholders of the industry: the gamers, the Esports organizations and the game publishers.”