The Clutch esports investment competition will once again take place at esports conference ESI London this year, and there’s $25,000 up for grabs for start-ups.
It marks a return to a physical format for the esports-focused pitch investment competition, which will take place at ESI London from September 5th to 7th 2022 at Boxpark Wembley.
Organiser Esports Insider has also announced that Overwolf, the platform that enables creators to build, distribute, and monetise in-game apps and mods, will be the official technology partner of the event.
Overwolf is contributing a prize pool of $25,000 to The Clutch’s London edition this year, with the following split:
- 1st place – $15,000
- 2nd place – $7,000
- 3rd place – $3,000
The Clutch 2022 shortlist includes:
- Mouseskins – A UK-based custom gaming mice provider
- Protest Labs – A desktop application that measures and elevates players’ true capabilities
- Versus Gaming – An esports platform where gamers of all skill levels can create teams, compete in tournaments and track their performance
- Challenger Project – A competitive esports gaming platform for casual players
There are more prizes to be announced, not to mention the opportunity for gaining investment, media coverage, networking and the potential for mentorship.
The eligible winning start-up will also be granted the opportunity to travel to Tel Aviv, where Overwolf is headquartered, for a week of in-person mentoring and product acceleration.
To date, there have been four winners: G-Science, Teams.gg (which recently added Fortnite and Apex Legends to its matchmaking platform), Anzu and iTero Gaming.
Taking place on September 7th, The Clutch will welcome a panel of investors to judge three to four esports related start-ups. The judges involved in the panel will include Shahar Sorek, Chief Marketing Officer at Overwolf and Lisa Hau, COO at Bidstack, with more judges to be announced soon.
“Winning The Clutch 2021 was a jump-start for iTero Gaming. The prize, the exposure and joining the ranks of previous winners who have all impressed me would have been enough on its own.”
Jack J Williams, iTero Gaming
There’s also a Clutch advisory board, who will oversee and support the development of startups in the esports and gaming industry. Confirmed members include:
- Spike Laurie -Partner, Hiro Capital
- Vincent Vercelli – Head of Incubation, Level256
- Joanie Kraut – CEO, Women in Games International (WIGI)
- Dan Bravato – President, SeventySix Capital Sports Advisory
- Joey Brander – President, First Serve Partners
- Kesem Fine – Business Development & M&A, Overwolf
- Shahar Sorek – CMO, Overwolf
- Marco Blume – Board Member, SkyboxPlease
“Overwolf has a long history of partnering with leading esports in-game apps from Professor, which helps League of Legends players understand their match statistics, to Tracker Network, which provides a suite of stats apps for many top games including Valorant, Apex, and Fortnite,” commented Uri Marchand, Overwolf CEO.
“Through this partnership with Esports Insider, we are excited to find the best upcoming esports in-game apps that help gamers enhance their gameplay experience. The Clutch gives us early access to this rising talent and we can’t wait to hear the pitches.”
Jack J Williams, founder and data scientist at iTero Gaming, added: “Winning The Clutch 2021 was a jump-start for iTero Gaming. The prize, the exposure and joining the ranks of previous winners who have all impressed me would have been enough on its own.
“The highlight though, was that it became the catalyst for us to work with the team at Overwolf. They really understand our vision and are providing all the support and expertise we could ask for to deliver on it. I’m looking forward to seeing how we can continue to grow this ecosystem together long into the future.”
How The Clutch pitch competition works and how to apply
Note: Entries are now closed.
The competition is only open to start-up companies who are prior to (or in) their first seed round, and their product or offering must directly relate to the esports space.
From all of the applications Esports Insider receives, it will select three or four companies to present to the panel of judges, investors and a live audience at ESI London in person on September 7th 2022.
Each start-up will be allowed a five-minute pitch time, which will be followed by up to 10 minutes of questions.
Start-ups can use slides and video, just slides, or just talk, then after five minutes the Q&A from the judges will begin. There will not be any audience questions.
Five judges will be present, all of whom have been invited by Esports Insider. They will be active investors themselves and/or have direct links to and understanding of the investment space, or in some capacity linked to an investment fund or vehicle. They’ll also be reasonably well-versed in the esports space too.
The panel will have a scoring sheet, and will ultimately decide the winner of the ‘The Clutch’ trophy and the corresponding prizes on the day.
The application process for The Clutch is now open and the deadline closes on July 13th. Applicants can apply for The Clutch 2022 here and grab ESI London 2022 tickets here (Note: entries are now closed).
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.
