Blue Star Capital (BLU) , a holding company with a focus on new technologies in payments, media and gaming, issued an update on its 13%-owned investee company Dynasty Gaming & Media.
Dynasty advised that its recently completed US$3m fundraise, combined with material cost reductions and its move from technology supplier to operator (B2C), should fund it to breakeven with free cash flow generation by "no later than July 2024". Additionally, Dynasty announced a proposed merger with Googly Media, another Blue Star investee company.
Dynasty says it has built the "the leading and most comprehensive gaming/esports platform globally", incorporating a wide range of features, licences and accreditations in one product. The technology is powered by an enterprise-grade esports tournament engine, endorsed by major international games publishers including Riot, Activision and Supercell.
The esports platform and gaming shop supports international pro esports tournaments for both PC and Mobile, optimised for "mobile first" markets like India. Dynasty says the platform can deliver and launch a fully-branded and fully functional partner platform within only 4 weeks. This has been enabled by a single code cloud-based code structure.
The platform features a payment wallet, subscription engine, and digital voucher and top-up shop. A new User Generated Tournament (UGT) engine also allows users to create entry fee and prize pool tournaments, sharing in platform monetisation - this feature is patent pending.
Following the pivot to B2C, Dynasty now has live platforms in several key markets including Googly in India, Lets Play Live in Australia and New Zealand, and Paidia Gaming in North America. Dynasty also announced an impending launch in the Philippines, expected in early December 2023.
As Dynasty has worked closely with Googly over the past 12 months on opportunities in India, and with prospects of extending the partnership into other markets, the boards of the two companies are considering an equal merger. Further details will be disclosed as the transaction develops, with shareholder approval expected before end of 2023. Blue Star has a 13% interest in Dynasty and 0.6% interest in Googly.
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As an early-stage technology business in the rapidly evolving esports space, an optimisation of the business model was a natural and expected move from Dynasty. The company's platform and partnerships are quickly expanding, with recent launches in major global markets and a strong focus on India where 750 million gamers are expected to spend more than US$6.7bn by 2026. Given the rapid success of Googly in that market, the proposed merger of the 2 gaming companies is a natural move that should further bolster Dynasty's growth in India.
Dynasty's other partner platforms include: Lets Play Live - launched in June 2023 with 50/50 JV platform Lets Play Live, Oceania's leading tournament organiser and gaming content creator. Within 6 months of operation, Lets Play Live has gained 420,000 users with official tournaments scheduled for 2024 with the publishers of Valorant, Fortnite, and Clash Royale. And in North America, Paidia is a female-focused gaming platform, with partnerships already signed with Razer, Xbox, and Cosmetics.
Dynasty also announced they are on schedule to launch in the Philippines in early December 2023 under the platform brand "Lightning Dragon" with a "major media conglomerate" as its partner.
Dynasty's original business model was providing its gaming platform to large telecoms, for which it had initial success, contracting with STC, Maxis and Spark for fixed monthly license fee revenue. However, operational complexities, including the need to support multiple custom platforms, prompted Dynasty to a pivot to a B2C platform model, allowing it to pick more complimentary partners and maintain control of its products and contact with end users.
As a result of extensive platform development in the period since the pivot, Dynasty's platform has now moved to a single code base, translating to much reduced time to launch in new markets - from 9 months previously to 1 month now. This is expected to have material impact on future growth. Dynasty expects to achieve positive cash flow by July 2024.
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