Metafy Secures $5.5 Million Extension to Seed Funding

Metafy, a startup focused on connecting gamers with instructors through a distributed marketplace, has announced a further investment of $5.5 million. This addition supplements the company’s initial $3.15 million seed round.

Rapid Growth and Market Traction

The company, led by CEO Josh Fabian, has experienced significant growth since its inception. Within approximately nine months, Metafy has achieved a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $76,000.

Metafy operates with a commitment to transparency, publicly sharing its key performance indicators. The following data illustrates the company’s growth trajectory:

Beyond Esports: Focusing on Niche Gaming Communities

Initial assumptions positioned Metafy as a platform for esports professionals to coach aspiring competitive players. However, this is not the company’s primary focus.

Currently, 100% of Metafy’s GMV originates from games with dedicated, yet smaller, communities. Fabian highlights these as possessing “vibrant, loyal communities,” with Super Smash Brothers currently leading in terms of revenue generated.

A Coach-Centric Approach

Metafy’s strategy centers around coaches as the primary customer base, rather than trainees. This approach supports the goal of establishing coaching as a viable, full-time profession.

By prioritizing coaches, Metafy reduces marketing expenses, as instructors leverage their existing audiences to attract students. This build for coaches, onboard coaches, coaches bring their fans, GMV is generated model is proving effective within games that have highly engaged player bases.

Future Expansion and Capital Allocation

The recent funding round will facilitate Metafy’s expansion into a wider range of games. Fabian suggests that any game with a demonstrable skill curve – including titles like chess and poker – could potentially be included on the platform.

The $5.5 million investment will primarily be used to expand the Metafy team. Currently at 18 employees, the company aims to reach 30, with the majority of new hires focused on product development.

Gaming as a Mainstream Market

The perspective from TechCrunch is that the gaming industry has already achieved mainstream status. Consequently, building tools and services for gamers presents a stable opportunity, less susceptible to the volatile cycles often experienced by game developers.

This stability is expected to increase as Metafy diversifies its game offerings.

Ongoing Transparency and Data Sharing

Due to Metafy’s commitment to public data sharing, progress will be continuously monitored. Updates on the company’s growth will be provided as more data becomes available.