Skillz (company)

Skillz is an online mobile multiplayer video game competition platform that is integrated into a number of iOS and Android games. The Skillz platform helps developers create franchises by enabling social competition in their games. Skillz has over 14,000 game developers who launched a game integration on the platform. Skillz hosts billions of casual esports tournaments for millions of mobile players worldwide.

The company is headquartered in Las Vegas and has offices in San Mateo, Seattle, Vancouver and Los Angeles. Skillz organized over 2 billion tournament entries for 30 million mobile players worldwide, and distributes over $60 million in prizes each month. In 2020, the company became the first publicly-traded mobile esports platform.

History

Skillz was founded in 2012 by Andrew Paradise and Casey Chafkin in Boston, though the company's headquarters is now located in Las Vegas.

Through different rounds of funding, Skillz has raised $53 million from venture capitalists including Liberty Global, Telstra, Accomplice, Wildcat Capital, as well as the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Mets, and Sacramento Kings.

By June 2015, Skillz had launched 550 games and partnered with 1,100 game studios, and reached $20 million in gross marketplace volume. In 2016, the company launched bracketed tournaments on the platform.

In December 2017, Skillz's growth rate was 50,000%. In the same year, Skillz hired its one hundredth full-time employee. As of September 2017, 33% of Skillz's engineering team were women.

In April 2018, Skillz doubled its revenue run-rate to $200 million in nine months, with more than one million tournaments per day. At the same year in September, the revenue rate grew to $400 million.

In 2019, the company held a contest for mobile esports games developers with $25,000-prize for the winner to traffic to the game, with launch and optimization services provided by Skillz business and game design experts.

In February 2021, Skillz and the NFL partnered to develop a new NFL-themed mobile game.

In August 2021, the company partnered with multiplayer tech company Exit Games with permanent access to the company’s technology, and invested $50 million for a minority stake in Exit Games.

In 2021, Skillz generated over $2 billion in gross marketplace volume, over 3 million monthly active users, and hosted an average of over 6 million daily tournaments, including 1.5 million paid entry daily tournaments offering over $100 million in prizes each month.

At the start of 2022, Skillz revenue rate grew to 61% and gross profit rose 56% year over year.

In February 2024, Skillz was awarded a $42.9 million judgement against rival AviaGames for patent infringement.

Software

The Skillz platform integrates into mobile games to provide esports-related features. Skillz facilitates matching players with one another based on their skill levels. Players can also record or stream their games via the platform. Skillz currently has 30 million users registered on the platform, around 14,000 developer partners. As such, Skillz has hosted a billion of tournaments. On a daily basis, Skillz runs two million tournaments per day for games such as Solitaire Cube, Bubble Shooter, and Dominoes. Skillz has hosted over 800 million tournaments. Of its users, roughly half are men and half are women.

Games

There are over 800 games of various genres games that have the Skillz multiplayer platform integrated onto them. Tether Studios is one such developer of Skillz games, which uses the Skillz platform to add a cash-rewarded competition element to their Solitaire Cube game, leading to increased player retention. Another game studio on the Skillz platform is Big Run, with games such as Big Cooking and Blackout Bingo.

Mergers & Acquisitions

In August 2020, Skillz and Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, merged a business combination that resulted in Skillz becoming a publicly-listed company.

In June 2021, Skillz acquired for $150 million Aarki, a technology-driven marketing platform, to create an integrated esports advertising platform. Aarki’s demand-side platform was reaching 465 million monthly active users before being acquired by Skillz.

In August 2021, Skillz acquired a minority stake in Exit Games for $50 million.

Founded in 2004, Hamburg-based Exit Games created a real-time multiplayer and cloud service called Photon used by developers for creating and hosting real-time multiplayer games. Photon also partners with EA, Square Enix and Ubisoft, and has 24 million users. Photon engine will be used by Skillz to power its platform and esports tournaments.

Social responsibility

In March 2018, Skillz signed a partnership with breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen to host a special charity tournament. During the tournament, Skillz raised over $120,000 for the organization, including participants from 38 states as well as over 60 countries.

In October 2019, the company together with the American Red Cross launched a fundraising tournament to help 200,000 victims of the California wildfires and raised $40,000.

In June 2020, Skillz hosted "Gaming for Good" tournaments to raise money for NAACP Empowerment Programs and used in the charity's mission to get equal rights and put a stop to racism. In July of the same year, the company partnered with Comic Relief US to host fundraising tournaments for Red Nose Day. The raised money was intended to help kids in need affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

In 2022, Skillz and American Cancer Society (ACS) launched a competitive mobile games tournament in support of Coaches vs. Cancer, a partnership between ACS and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The campaign held for three weeks starting March 20 and spotlighted three former NCAA coaching legends: Jim Calhoun, Bobby Cremins from the College of Charleston, Georgia Tech and Appalachian State, and Lon Kruger.

Investments

In 2012, Skillz was founded by Andrew Paradise and Casey Chafkin. In 2013, the company raised $5.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Atlas Venture and the Founders Fund.

In 2015, Skillz secured $15 million in a Series B funding round led by David Bonderman's TPG Growth. This investment allows Skillz to accelerate its growth and expand its user base.

In 2017, the platform raised $25 million in a Series C funding round led by Telstra Ventures. The funds are primarily used to support the company's international expansion and establish a presence in new markets.

In 2018, Skillz announced a $25 million investment from The Kraft Group and Marc Lasry to support the development of new game titles, attract more game developers to the platform, and enhance the overall player experience.

In 2020, Skillz raised $161 million in a Series D funding round led by Wellington Management Company and Fidelity Management & Research Company. This funding round values Skillz at $3.5 billion and provides significant capital for the company to fuel its growth, invest in technology infrastructure, and explore new business opportunities.

In 2020, Skillz went public through a merger with Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The merger results in Skillz becoming a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "SKLZ". The transaction raised approximately $849 million in gross proceeds, providing additional capital for Skillz's operations and expansion plans. In December 2020, Skillz started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “SKLZ” following acquisition company Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp.

Awards and ratings

In 2017, Skillz was included on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list. In 2019, the company appeared again.

In 2017, the company was ranked first on the list of fastest-growing companies in America on the Inc. 5000.

In 2018, Skillz was added to Forbes' Next Billion-Dollar Startups list and Skillz`s CEO was named an Entrepreneur 360.

In 2020, the company was listed to Private Titans of 2020 List by Inc. Magazine, ranking the leading competitive mobile games platform.

In 2019, Skillz was recognized as one of Fast Company’s most innovative companies and was named #31 on CNBC’s Disruptor 50.

In 2022, Skillz was included into the list of 500 most innovative companies by Deloitte.

In 2023, Skillz was included in the Fast Company List of Most Innovative Companies.

References

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Online video game services
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Special-purpose acquisition companies
Companies based in Enterprise, Nevada