INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

WHO WE ARE The Varsity Esports Foundation is a global non-profit organization established to offer financial assistance to schools and to provide a pipeline for students to reach their potential through esports. We strive to increase literacy around the esports industry’s positive impact on healthy lifestyles, mental health, community, and...

The world of esports is still young: the community is expanding, business models are fluid, and innovation never stops, as the industry looks to stay fresh and exciting.   Esports BAR is the world’s esports business arena, and our mission is to transform the sport of the digital generation into...

Onward Play is a nationwide game staffing agency specializing in freelance and direct hire. Onward Play’s niche is linking up creative, technical and production talent with incredible game, XR, and esports studios. Onward Play recruits talent for segments like PC, Console, Mobile, VR, AR, XR, esports, toys, casino and tabletop....

STEM Fuse is a developer of digital K-12 STEM and CTE curriculum and PD, working with 12,000+ schools across the country. We were founded in 2009 with the mission to help schools deliver engaging STEM programs to prepare students for the fastest growing career opportunities. The Founder, Carter Tatge, was...

Nerd Street Gamers is a national esports infrastructure that puts accessibility, integrity and opportunity at the forefront of everything they do. As gaming communities slowly began to gain traction on a small scale, the CEO of Nerd Street Gamers and Localhost, John Fazio, knew that individuals nationwide would soon realize...

THE WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF DATA PROCESSING POWER…GAIMIN has developed a PC-based app that utilizes, in the background, the processing power of the GPU in a gaming PC to create a decentralized data processing network with the power of a supercomputer. GAIMIN utilizes this processing power for a number...

GamerSafer’s mission is to scale safety and fair play experiences to millions of players worldwide. Fraud, crime, and toxicity are present in many online interactions, compromising user experience, lifetime value and engagement. The co-founders of GamerSafer, a former executive from the gaming industry and a social impact entrepreneur, both gamers...

Flamehawk Studios is a “games for good” startup that focuses on three main themes: e-learning, diversity and inclusion, and charity. Flamehawk’s first effort is The Mechanical World of Dr. Gearbox. Teachers may consider it a remote learning tool but students consider it a fun game that is clearly inspired by...

WHAT INSPIRED THE CREATION OF DRONE CADETS? In 2016 Sgt. Tony Reid, was a corrections officer at Rikers Island, a jail in New York City, working with incarcerated adolescents 16 to 18 years old. For 8 long years, he witnessed first-hand the plight of young men of color who became...

At the start of 2021 we launched the CodeCombat AI League. Built on the foundation of our annual CodeQuest competitive coding hackathon, this new and innovative esport was born. The CodeCombat AI League is the first of its kind, part AI battle simulator and part code engine for learning real...

Most Vicious Players is now the parent company of the Amateur Esports Union (AEU). But before the AEU was created, MVPs has been most well known for its individual players having live-streamed over 1000 wins in a row on YouTube, in which this live stream record has not been broken...

Our mission is simple: to shake the foundations of the gaming industry, one empowered woman at a time by providing a safe space for female gamers to play and showcase their talents. While we’re not the first to recognize the stigma of women in video games, we’re one of the...

Trapper, Ali and I had lived through building and operating live games like Star Trek Timelines, investing millions to build up the infrastructure to enable it. We didn’t think anyone should have to do all of that again. Our team has a unique background that includes not only making games—but...

At Dreamcraft, we invest in European tech-driven companies from pre-seed to Series A. We are generalists with a proven track record in iGaming, gaming, esports, D2C, B2B SaaS, and decarbonization. We believe success is created by a team of dreamers and crafters – and we are venture engineers who help...

Coalition of Parents in Esports is a 501c3 nonprofit founded by parents of pro esports players and content creators who recognized a need of engaging parents in the growing esports industry so more kids are able to pursue their passions with the support they need....

Despite launching in September 2020, during the height of a global pandemic, XP League quickly caught the attention of tech-savvy franchisees looking to turn their passion into a career. And esports are certainly a lucrative activity worthy of franchise investment; by 2023, it’s predicted that the industry could see revenues...

Indie game developers are the heart and soul of the gaming industry, and without them, we wouldn’t have as much innovation as we currently have, and have been enjoying since Pong. With that said, indie game developers are always struggling to create their games because of various reasons, and this...

METRO IS A MULTICULTURAL ESPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION AGENCY, CREATING AND PRODUCING DIGITAL, SOCIAL, MOBILE AND LIVE EVENTS DESIGNED TO ATTRACT, ENGAGE AND UPLIFT A BROAD AND DIVERSE AUDIENCE OF GAMING AND TECHNOLOGY ENTHUSIASTS. A college football player, I don’t come from the world of esports as I only understood...

The products and services we offer are all aligned with our strategic mission: creating products and content for the good of gamers. Dana Paul, the co-founder and CEO of Ritual Motion, realized there was a gap in the gaming and esports industry around health, wellness, diversity, and true human connectivity...

As a Sport Management professor, I sat and spoke to my students about the various aspects of gaming. Knowing the majority of my classes were filled with gamers, we would have countless discussions about the business and possibilities of esports. From these conversations I saw first hand how limited the...

HeliconNFT is a new online universe, combining a gaming metaverse with a NFT buying & trading platform that provides real rewards where you can play, mine and earn to become the master of a new market. Ultimately, HeliconNFT bridges the gap between centralised games and decentralized NFTs for a true...

Their core product, Gameplan, helps players of all ages acquire real-world skills that aid professional development, cognitive abilities, promote healthy habits, and more.   Rasmus Sandstöm and Dan Andreasson started Learn2Esport in 2016 with the vision of engaging students through esports, and teaching them valuable life skills to prepare them...

With a mantra of ‘Esports for Everyone,’ Aquatik Esports is truly unique and has propelled an abrupt tidal wave of followers, fans, and participants spread across multiple channels and touchpoints across the world. By providing approachable spaces, opportunities, and platforms for amateur competitive gamers, creators, and streamers to launch their...

But Newzoo wasn’t its founder’s (Peter Warman and Thijs Hagoort) first venture into the world of business. Far from it. After becoming friends playing basketball in high school, the industrious duo sold custom-designed t-shirts. Those early days taught them a valuable lesson: custom production based on manuals does not scale...