YDX Innovation (YDX.V) signed an letter of intent to to buy Amuka Ventures, which will henceforth be doing business as Amuka Esports & Gaming.
Amuka Esports deals in e-sports venues, online tournaments and content creation, and will merge as YDX’s esports division, adding to the company’s considerable portfolio in the virtual reality, e-sports, gaming and immersive experiences markets.
“E-sports and gaming are core functions of our mission [for this corporate division] to create cutting-edge immersive experiences. We are excited to merge Amuka Esports into our existing e-sports vertical. We also appreciate the efforts of the Amuka Esports team, who have already built out a large base of active gamers in Canada, to change the way we all experience new and existing forms of entertainment,” according to Daniel Japiassu, chief executive officer of YDX Innovation.
Having spread out beyond their Canadian home-base to the United States, Brazil, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the company’s next steps are to enhance and streamline their operational workflow with the intention of deriving money from their existing revenue streams while branching out with their research and development for global scaling and distribution. The company’s acquisition of Beat Gaming, Purple Mage Advisor and Render have helped them increase their e-sports industry market share.
“It’s critical that we, as a new company, commit to leading and innovating the e-sports and gaming industries; and that means creating an impermeable e-sports ecosystem, that remains relevant across traditional and non-traditional gaming formats. Our vision for the joint entity will be to bridge the gaps between e-sports, gaming and entertainment. Our mission is to proudly be driving innovation in digital entertainment here in Canada and throughout the world. Our strategy is laser focused in prioritizing high-margin sales verticals and effectively using the new synergies for new commercialization opportunities,” according to Ben Feferman, chief executive officer of Amuka Esports.
Amuka Esports were founded in Toronto in 2019, and have been picking up esports assets that offer immediate value to the local gaming community. Some of their acquisitions include:
- Waves Gaming: a 14,000-square-foot e-sports arena in Toronto, Onts., that hosts over 200 community events and is the largest e-sports venue in Canada;
- EZY Mode: a 4,500-square-foot e-sports lounge in Windsor, Ont., the only e-sports venue in the city;
- Incendium Gaming: a leading tournament organizer that has produced world-class events including the Tekken World Tour and Capcom Pro Tour;
- Mount Phenom: a championship e-sports series that gives amateur and semi-pro players the opportunity to compete in professional tournaments with big prize money;
- Organizing Gaming: a leading e-sports media and content creation company;
- Level Six: Canada’s first and only e-sports incubator already in its second cohort, with equity earned from eight different e-sports organizations;
- High Performance Motorsports (HPM): a competitive e-NASCAR team, with two drivers in the top 100;
- Dragonborn Esports: an established CounterStrike e-sports team, based in Sweden.
Amuka has made over a quarter of a million dollars in sponsorship revenue and anticipates building on their business opportunities into the next year, unified within YDX’s e-sports division.
The LOI includes YDX Innovation acquiring all of Amuka Esports shares by issuing 27,352,941 common shares in the capital of the company and exchanging such YDX shares, on a pro rata basis, for all of the Amuka shares held by shareholders of Amuka Esports.
—Joseph Morton
