Nerd Street Raises $6M Led by Konvoy Ventures

PHILADELPHIA -- September 20, 2024 -- Nerd Street, a national esports infrastructure and event company, announced today it has raised $6 million in funding led by $5M from Denver-based venture capital firm Konvoy Ventures. Another $1M is coming from strategic investors.

Since its inception in 2016, Nerd Street has been focused on unlocking opportunities and scale for the esports industry through a national network of connected venues known as Localhosts. Nerd Street’s flagship Localhost opened in 2021 in Philadelphia and the most recent location opened in 2023 at Rowan University. This funding will give Nerd Street the ability to grow its collegiate venues and infrastructure business and partner with more universities to open venues like the one at Rowan.

Last year, Nerd Street announced it was moving forward with plans to open a Localhost at Albright College, and the company is currently in talks to partner with dozens of other universities to bring high-end gaming venues to their campuses. Nerd Street also has partnered with Temple University to provide a home for its esports program at Localhost Philadelphia and with Maryville University in St. Louis to run a youth summer camp esports program at the university.

Konvoy invests in platforms and technologies that are at the frontier of gaming. As gamers themselves, Konvoy’s partners are dedicated to supporting founders who are building the next generation of gaming companies. In addition to Nerd Street, the Denver-based venture capital firm has recently invested in companies nationwide and across the globe including Ixana, Battle Road and k-ID. Beyond its investments, Konvoy releases a quarterly report on venture capital investments in the gaming industry that has become a must-read for observers of the gaming industry.

"The team at Nerd Street have shown immense perseverance and sheer grit to get to this point,” said Josh Chapman, Managing Partner at Konvoy. “Where others in the gaming venue space faltered, John and his team have shown a tenacity to push through the headwinds and pursue their vision. They have certainly found product-market fit and that's extremely evident, especially with their recent focus on building out gaming venues at universities. This expansion to universities will unlock immense growth not only for Nerd Street as a company, but for the entire competitive gaming and esports industry in the coming years. At Konvoy, we see how big this opportunity is and how Nerd Street's strategy is best positioned and perfectly timed — we believe in a future where Nerd Street has a presence on every campus, in every U.S. city, fueling the growth of esports and competitive gaming at a national scale."

"There’s no sugar coating it, we went through a brutal two years in survival mode to get here," Nerd Street Founder and CEO John Fazio said. "I’m incredibly proud of our team and the grit they’ve shown as we weathered storm after storm while staying true to our core mission and delivering industry-leading experiences to our consumers. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner in Konvoy given their experience, network, and most importantly their passion for the industry. Together, we’re going to build something that amplifies the entire industry."

About Konvoy

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Konvoy’s portfolio spans 50+ investments across the globe, making it a point to continue investing with a global mandate -- including their position as one of the first funds to invest in gaming startups across Africa, such as Carry1st. With $258M AUM, the firm is actively deploying funds from its $150M Fund III, with a specific focus on pre-seed, seed, and Series A gaming companies. Most recently, they contributed heavily to the Series A round of investing (following A16Z’s lead) in k-ID, a safety and compliance technology platform for games. Other notable portfolio companies include Pok Pok, Solsten, Axie Infinity (Sky Mavis) and more.

About Nerd Street

Nerd Street is a Philadelphia-based national network of esports facilities and events dedicated to powering competitive opportunities for gamers at all levels including the youth, high school, collegiate, amateur and pro esports scenes. Founded in 2016, the company promotes greater access to the esports industry, laying a national framework for esports talent development and high-quality gaming tournaments. Through Localhost, its gaming and esports centers across the country, the company provides opportunities for gamers of all ages and skill levels to participate in esports tournaments, camps, team training, private events, and hourly play for a wide variety of video games.