Esports brand Tempo Storm has raised $3.3 million in a funding round.

Technology investor Galaxy Interactive led the round through its Galaxy EOS VC Fund. The money will be used to propel the company beyond esports, and it plans to launch its own game.

Tempo's first game is called The Bazaar, a deck-building card game. On top of that, Tempo will build its Game Changers franchise, an all-live travel show that allows fans to influence what happens live on stream. Tempo will bring in personalities from the industry to take part.

"What impressed us most about Tempo Storm is their vision beyond the traditional esports organisation," said Sam Englebardt, Head of Galaxy Interactive.

"Starting with the company's founder and CEO, Andrey Yanyuk, this group is truly innovating in areas such as interactive productions and game development. Sure, they are successful esports competitors, but they are so much more, and it was an easy decision to invest in them."

Esports success

Tempo Storm is known in the sports space for its teams in games such as Shadowverse, PUBG Mobile, Hearthstone, Super Smash Bros., Magic: The Gathering, and Rainbow Six Siege.

"While Tempo is well-known in the competitive gaming world, we've always operated more as a media company than a sports team," said Tempo Storm founder and CEO Andrey "reynad" Yanyuk.

"We believe that interactivity is the future of entertainment, and we're incredibly grateful to be working with investors who share that vision. Our upcoming game and audience-driven shows are blazing the trail in the world of interactive media, and it's exciting to see that future being realised."

On the larger end of the scale, it was recently reported that Google paid $160 million for the exclusive streaming rights to all of Activision Blizzard's esports tournaments. The influx in cash across the industry may be why it was recently found that the number of jobs in esports grew by 87 per cent in 2019.