To accelerate the growth of the Asian esports ecosystem, Singapore-based venture capital fund KK Fund has announced the launch of the first eSports X Business Asia Summit (EXB Asia Summit). KK Fund is holding EXB Asia Summit, which is open for public participation with no registration fee, on April 21-22, in partnership with leading Thai esports startup Infofed and global media agency dentsu X.
“Asia has the world’s largest audience of esports players and fans and has generated nearly half of all global esports revenue thus far. Though there is significant growth potential, the esports industry in the region is still young. The summit is therefore a concerted effort to kickstart better collaboration, communication and education to further develop the ecosystem,” said KK Fund Founder and General Partner Koichi Saito in a press statement.
Uniting industry stakeholders
The EXB Asia Summit will bring all stakeholders together to examine the latest industry trends, provide education for endemic and non-endemic brands, network with industry peers, and unlock brand sponsorship opportunities.
Participating in the summit are major game publishers, game developers, media and broadcasting platforms, esports associations, government agencies, esport businesses, and tech brands. They include renowned industry names such as Tencent Games, SEGA, Garena, ONE Esports, and Razer. Government agencies such as the Thailand E-Sports Federation, the Singapore Esports Association, and the Japan eSports Union will also be present.
Over both days, guest speakers from within and outside the esports industry will deliver seminar sessions on topics such as in-game monetization, esports sponsorships, and mapping brand positioning with professional esports players. They will also examine case studies on the popularity of Korean esports, how to effectively build an esports ecosystem, and pioneering esports sponsorships through gaming gear collaborations.
The speakers include:
- Haruki Satomi, Chairman and CEO of SEGA Holdings Co
- Andrew Manugian, Head of Gaming Operations at Tencent Thailand
- Carlos Alimurung, CEO of ONE Esports
- Lance Quek, Founder of Gamerforce Ventures
- Chandra Firmanto, Founder of Indogen Capital
- Koichi Saito, Founder of KK Fund
- Yoshi Nakano, Partnership Director of dentsu Tokyo
- Om Kaosa-ard, COO of Infofed
Esports startup pitching session
While the seminar and networking sessions span both days of the summit, single-day events include the startup pitching session on April 21. Five selected esports startups will have a chance to pitch their businesses to corporates, venture capitalists, and government bodies across Asia to secure potential investment. Registration for the sessions begins from now until April 2.
“Our priority in organizing the EXB Asia Summit is to address the high fragmentation and the lack of education about the esports industry, both of which are affecting its growth in the region and beyond. The significant interest in esports within and outside of the ecosystem must be met with more efforts to spread awareness, encourage collaboration and build a more robust infrastructure. We aim to continue our mission and efforts towards fostering esports innovation and enhancing the community in Asia,” said Infofed CEO Jirayod Theppipit.
The climax of the second day of EXB Asia Summit will be the esports corporate tournament finals. The tournament is designed to give brands a better understanding of the esports ecosystem by demonstrating the tournament creation process and giving them hands-on experience via participation in the competition.
“The esports industry has the capacity to transform the digital experience and connect global audiences in an increasingly digitized world. We have consistently striven to raise the global profile of esports and increase its credibility for sponsorship and marketing. We are confident that the EXB Asia Summit will help other stakeholders realize the new creative dimension that esports brings to sports marketing and show them how they can best leverage it for maximum brand awareness,” said dentsu X Thailand Managing Director Kazuo Koike.
