Last October, Nicecactus revealed its new branding and the Grassroots Esports Fund. The 1 million euros sponsorship fund is designed to support and reward talented amateur and semi-pro players and teams, helping them take the next step into professional gaming. As the first beneficiary, Nicecactus has chosen the Rising Stars, a Rocket League competition that has been offering a unique playground to thousands of players of all levels since their creation in 2018 by the French organisation Rocket Baguette, later joined by the Spanish Golden Dust Cup and the German Team FireWall.



As a result, the Rising Stars regional leagues run in France, Spain and Germany will offer an unprecedented €1000 prize pool and a €2500 prize for the Superstar League, the final tournament with the best regional teams. In addition, Nicecactus will host weekly tournaments exclusively for the teams participating in the Rising Stars Circuit, until the end of the season in June.



“Rocket League has always been a game we wanted to support. If we think “Grassroots”, the Rising Stars are the first thing that comes to mind. We want to reward the hard work and talent we have in the grassroots scene. We are happy to help Rocket Baguette and their partners grow their competition, that has been fuelled by passion for esports,” said Sophia Lyon, Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund Manager.



“Nicecactus is exactly the kind of partner that can take esports as a whole to the next level and we’re proud to have them on board. They run their operations with utmost professionalism while demonstrating a sincere care about the grassroots esports communities like ours,” said Boyan Kaftandjiev, Rocket Baguette co-founder.



The Rising Stars have been running for 4 seasons and have already helped reveal some young talents that have reached the professional scene, like AS Monaco’s Alex “Extra” Paoli, first Rising Stars Champion with Team Exalty in June 2018. Registration for the new Rising Stars season is open until February 13th at RocketBaguette.com/RisingStars. The sponsorship of Rising Stars is just the beginning for the Nicecactus Grassroots Esports Fund, kicking off a series of sponsorships for teams and players.