Rapper Offset’s Esports company Faze Clan has gotten an A-List funding round

Offset backed Esports company FaZe Clan announced today that it had closed a round of funding with music mogul Jimmy Iovine and NTWRK, a mobile e-commerce platform known for working with top brands like Nike NKE and Puma, as well as celebrities like Billie Eilish and DJ Khaled. Forbes valued FaZe Clan at $240 million in its most recent ranking of the most valuable esports organizations. The investment is estimated to be multimillion-dollar, involving a small single-digit ownership stake, and gives Iovine a board seat.

“I do not look at this terrible moment as an opportunity,” Lee Trink, CEO and co-owner of FaZe Clan, said about how he managed to raise money during a pandemic. “But we are fortunate we are in the right industry for a moment like this, when everyone is turning to esports and streaming, and we are positioned to be bigger on the other side of it.”

Iovine biggest investment coup was when he partnered with Dr. Dre to create Beats Electronics, which they sold to Apple AAPL for $3 billion in 2014. Last April, he entered the world of mixed martial arts, leading a $30 million funding round backing the Professional Fighters League.

Offset — one-third of hip-hop trio Migos – and he husband of Cardi B invested in Faze clan back in August 2019. With stories of teenagers winning millions of dollars playing Fortnite intrigued him, so Offset did some more research on his own. It wasn’t long until he discovered Faze Clan. The rapper seems excited about the potential of e-sports. According to the Verge, he described the field as “the future” and noted the diverse audience of competitive gaming as a huge advantage. “My four-year-old plays Fortnite,” he says. “My little brother who’s 21 plays Fortnite. It’s every range of people, and it’s nothing but positivity. It’s going to be forever.”

Offset joins the likes of Lil Yachty, a FaZe brand ambassador, and Drake, who invested in 100 Thieves in October 2019. Soulja Boy, Diddy, and other artists have made their interest in esports and gaming known, too.