As esports infrastructure, businesses and even coaches become more widespread, the billion-dollar industry is looking at major growth over the next few years. A Providence-based company is hoping to capitalize on this new generation of gaming enthusiasts with a new community platform where users can monetize the content they create, no matter their following size.
Ritual Motion launched GUILD: Gamers United In Live Discussion last year. The company recently celebrated a milestone of surpassing $700,000 out of $1 million in crowdfunding. As of Tuesday, the company has raised more than $840,000.
Founded in 2018 by Dana Paul and Bill Cesare, Ritual Motion launched in 2021 after a year of development and testing. Today, Ritual Motion has a $20M valuation at Start Engine with a little more than 200 investors seeding the first batch of money.
Although the company has a shop that sells gamer gloves, snacks and supplements, the GUILD channel has been its flagship.
Paul, a self-professed serial entrepreneur, said the GUILD channel combines the best elements of Twitch, Discord and other platforms to offer new tools for creators and gaming viewers. In addition, Paul said, the platform is ramping up integration for NFTs, cryptocurrency and on-demand viewing. In its first 100 days, GUILD streamed more than half a million minutes of live video content and collected 2,000 registered members.
Inspired by his children’s love of video games, Paul said he was struck by the social aspect of gaming as he saw the pull of Twitch and Justin’s TV. But the pivotal moment came about three-and-a-half years ago when his kids and their friends were watching an Overwatch match.
“They mentioned that they were watching Bob Kraft’s team play and a lightning bolt went off,” Paul said. Kraft invested $20 million in an Overwatch League team in 2018. “I then asked myself the three questions, ’Is it real? Is it worth it? Can we win?’ I believe we can.”
Over the past year, Ritual Motion has been pumping out gaming content related to health and wellness with a focus on building up the community on GUILD. Paul said highlighting inclusion and diversity within the gaming community has also taken precedence at the company.
The GUILD itself, Paul said, is another tool like Twitch that creators can use to connect with fans and each other. But unlike Twitch or YouTube, creators can immediately monetize their content. With other applications, users need a certain number of followers to activate monetization.
Ritual Motion employs 15 people across several countries and seven states. The company recently hired a community director and a vice president of the GUILD, Paul said. Once the company reaches its $1 million crowdfunding milestone, Paul plans to hire a chief crypto officer.
Ritual Motion initially started fundraising by bootstrapping and participated in a bridge round of $6 million, Paul said. The company had started looking at VC and private equity capital but then decided to go the crowdfunding route via Start Engine, Paul said.
“We did a lot of research, and in the end we liked things like having a CEO like Howard Marks, who is the founder of Activision,” Paul said. “It didn’t hurt that Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank was also involved. So we applied and they got back to us in a day. I’m glad we did it like this because we’re basically under the FTC microscope with what is essentially a public offering.”
Over the next few years, with esports’ popularity gaining traction in educational venues, Paul said he sees a burgeoning industry with myriad jobs and opportunities.
“There’s two paths, I think. Someone could go into related fields like programming, announcing or marketing, or now there’s a path to becoming a pro,” he said. “You see some of these kids in college, playing Overwatch in their spare time and pulling in $50,000. Gaming in general is the number #1 social community, and I think we’ll see a lot more growth.”
