SwiftSkill, a new digital platform founded in the UK that allows aspiring esports professionals to track and improve their performance, has raised a £150,000 pre-seed round from Jenson Funding Partners.
The funding will allow the business to expand its team and provide its service to additional esports game titles, to help gamers build their skills to become professional esports players.
SwiftSkill works by providing a digital analysis tool that gives players an insight into their performance. The platform analyses data from matches, providing insight, heat maps and a breakdown of their performance.
Players can then identify trends and skills that to succeed in future matches. Valorant is the first title available through SwiftSkill, but the funding will also be used to expand its service to other established esports titles, including CSGO.
UK esports organisation The Goose House has also struck a partnership with SwiftSkill. The Goose House’s Valorant team will use SwiftSkill throughout the Valorant Regional Leagues and Champions Tour.
Dan ‘@_eLSDx’ Ellis , CEO of The Goose House, commented: “When I was first introduced to SwiftSkill I was flattered that they had followed our story at The Goose House and were eager to work with us. SwiftSkill will offer our Valorant team a new way of analysing their games and improving performance.
“Our community will love SwiftSkill as everyone in The Goose House wants to improve – they’re a perfect fit.”
Founded by Anil Kumar Peri of Cranfield University and Shankha Subhra Dutta from Lancaster University, SwiftSkill was created after the pair recognised the lack of advice available to aspiring esports players.
Being closely connected to the esports sector in India where they first met at the Birla Institute of Technology, Peri and Dutta recognised that gamers from different regions may not have the same opportunity to enter into esports.
So they set up SwiftSkill, which aims to reach millions of aspiring esports professionals around the world with its platform.
“Valorant is just the start for us and we are eager to expand our service to other popular esports titles and across other genres. The funding from Jenson will allow us to service the esports champions of tomorrow.”
Anil Kumar, SwiftSkill
A press release read: “Current services that offer esports analytics can often be too narrow, focusing on one particular segment or element of the gamer’s performance and offering generic advice to players. With SwiftSkill, Peri and Dutta aim to not only provide a comprehensive tool to encourage the growth of esports professionals but help gamers coach themselves to become better players.”
Anil Kumar, co-founder of SwiftSkill, said: “Every gamer plays differently and there can’t be a one-size-fits-all training for those eager to become esports professionals. At SwiftSkill, we’re giving aspiring professional gamers the insight they need to play better.
“With esports having the potential to generate 238 full-time equivalents (FTEs) of employment and £12m in Gross Value Added (GVA) for the UK economy alone, providing more opportunities for gamers to compete on a professional level will strengthen the sector.
“Valorant is just the start for us and we are eager to expand our service to other popular esports titles and across other genres. The funding from Jenson will provide the team and skillset needed to address the unique metrics that each esports title provides, allowing us to service the esports champions of tomorrow.”
Jeffrey Faustin, CIO of Jenson Funding Partners, added: “The gaming sector has consistently grown in recent years and the pandemic escalated the lucrative investment opportunities present in the industry. Esports presents a huge opportunity and innovative businesses such as SwiftSkill are driving the growth of the industry.
“SwiftSkill creates an opportunity for aspiring gamers to become professionals, honing their skills in the same way that traditional athletes compete.”
There are other services on the market, including 3D Aim Trainer, Guild Esports’ academy, London company eBlitz which hopes to reduce in-game toxicity with its matchmaking service, UK-based game matchmaking service Teams.gg and more.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
