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K-based esports organisation, Fnatic, has raised USD$10 million (AUD$13.8 million) in an internal round and launched a crowdfunding initiative to enable fans to invest in the business.

The money raised will be used to aid the global growth of the Fnatic brand and support its high-performance esports teams.

Fnatic has raised nearly USD$35m million (AUD$48.4 million) across its various funding round to date.

The company has also launched a crowd equity campaign with crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, on the back of securing fresh capital.

The initiative will provide the opportunity for Fnatic’s fanbase to invest in the business and shape the future of the organisation, including the chance to ‘seek out and level up the next generation of gamers’.

Fnatic has described the crowdfunding initiative as a unique way for investors to support a leading esports brand and play an active role in furthering the competitive gaming movement.

Fnatic founder and chief executive, Sam Mathews, said: “We’ve been looking to conduct a crowdfund campaign for a while.”

“This investment provides the perfect opportunity for our community, friends and enthusiasts to join our established investors and own a piece of Fnatic.

“Crowdfunding is a dynamic and increasingly popular way to fundraise as it provides an opportunity to transform our active and engaged community into investors by giving them the chance to get closer to our journey than ever before.

“We’re very excited to be working directly with our audience, partnering with them to shape the future of Fnatic, and of entertainment, sports and gaming performance,” Mathews said.

The esports organisation is one of the most-viewed teams on a consistent basis among western esports fans, with more than 110 million hours of the team being watched and also being ranked the second most-viewed team in 2020.

Fnatic also has partnerships with BMW, Gucci, OnePlus, Adavanced Micro devices (AMD), Monster and Hisense.

Fnatic recently secured a commercial deal with coffee product manufacturer Lavazza, which marks the Italian company’s first entry into esports.