Lockdown esports boom sees Luckbox prepare to go public on TSXV

Booming business during the COVID-19 lockdown has accelerated one company’s plans to go public.

Luckbox – an esports betting platform – has reported a “huge uptick in KPIs” during the first half of 2020.

The company is now preparing to go public on the TSX Venture Exchange after signing a letter of intent with capital pool company Elephant Hill (TSX-V: EH.P).

With much of the world’s population in lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the esports industry is among the few sectors to thrive.

While almost all traditional sport has been interrupted by the pandemic, esports – pro video game matches – are able to continue online.

This has been welcome news for Luckbox, with total bets up 500% since lockdown started.

Luckbox CEO Quentin Martin said: “All of our key performance indicators have been through the roof in the past three months. We’ve seen a huge uptick in KPIs across the board.

“Clearly, these are challenging times for many people across the world but, for many, esports and gaming is a welcome distraction.

“As well as an increase in customers and betting activity, we’ve seen a huge level of interest from potential investors, who are realizing that esports is resilient to many of the forces that affect traditional sports, not least COVD-19 and a potential recession.”

Esports is regarded as the sport with highest growth potential and the industry as a whole has been one of the few sectors to succeed during lockdown. Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch reported an 80% increase of concurrent viewership since January, while gaming platform Steam reported record concurrent users.

Ahead of the potential public listing, Luckbox is engaging investors during a short funding round led by Gravitas Securities and Beacon Securities.

Luckbox, which is based in the Isle of Man, has been accepting bets from customers in more than 100 territories for just over a year.

The company holds a full gambling licence and offers real-money wagering on popular games such as League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2, Overwatch, FIFA and NBA2K.

Martin said: “The potential of esports betting is well documented and these past few months have brought that into sharper focus, accelerating the numbers.

“Many fans of traditional sports have been exposed to the excitement of esports for the first time and, hopefully, they like what they see and will be sticking around.”