Paul ColstonE-sports business conference ESI will be returning to New York in April 2020.
In the year ahead, ESI London and the first ESI Week Stockholm and ESI Breakfast Clubs will take place, all offering initiatives and events designed to connect the biggest brands in the world with the booming esports industry.
Esports Insider’s eight events across the globe last year meant its ESI series is now the biggest esports b2b events portfolio in the world.
ESI Breakfast Clubs will take the form of invite-only senior-level networking events held under the Chatham House Rules as platforms for frank discussion, where esports will align with other industries including betting, investment, merchandising and retail. The first ESI Breakfast Club will take place on 5 February in London.
Kicking off the ESI calendar, ESI New York returns on the 27-28 April at the etc.venues 360 Madison in the heart of midtown.
Last year’s event attracted 270 attendees, with organisers targeting 350 this time round.
The event will enable start-ups with an opportunity to pitch to a panel of investors.
ESI London will return in September and will offer two days of networking and content opportunities for an anticipated 700 attendees and three evening events.
Last year’s event saw attendance and panels from the industry’s elite including the likes of FACEIT, Twitch, Riot Games, Team Vitality and DreamHack.
“It’s a very crowded noisy industry and we can help cut through a lot of that noise while also saving companies time and money,” said Sam Cooke, Managing Director & Co-Founder, ESI.
ESI has helped a multitude of non-endemic brands voyage into the esports space. Successes for 2019, include the partnership between esports organisation Team Vitality and international design firm HKS. With ESI’s facilitation, Team Vitality and HKS collaborated on V.Hive, a 10,700 sq. ft. public esports complex and HQ in the heart of Paris.