Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan announced today that he will be committing $10 million SGD in funding to gaming and esports in Singapore over the next twelve months.
This is the largest-ever financial commitment by Razer – the leading lifestyle brand for gamers – for developing the gaming and esports industry in Singapore. This includes supporting esports teams as well as gaming/esports companies in Singapore or founded by Singaporeans.
Min-Liang’s statement as posted on Facebook;
While I’m in Berlin for IFA 2019, I read about Minister Chan Chun Sing’s comments on supporting gaming and esports in Singapore. I’m incredibly grateful for all the support we’ve had from the Singapore government and Singaporeans alike all these years. While I founded Razer in the US, I’m still a Singaporean citizen and we have an office in Singapore with about 500 staff (and currently building a new SEA HQ in Singapore to double our headcount over the next few years to over 1,000!) Following Minister Chan’s comments, I’d like to be able to give back and do more for gaming in Singapore. To this end, I’ve decided to commit S$10M in funding over the next 12 months for gaming and esports activities in Singapore, including supporting esports teams in Singapore as well as investing in gaming/esports companies in Singapore or founded by Singaporeans.This funding will also go in part to Team Singapore which we are supporting for the SEA Games (which we are also the official esports partner) later this year where esports will be, for the first time ever, a medalled sport. We are one of the largest esports brands in the world, and personally, as a Singaporean, I’m looking forward to giving back and doing more for my country. Do reach out if you’re a Singaporean in the gaming industry and keen to find a way to work together!
PS: This is also partly due to the letter sent to the ST Forum last week about how esports shouldn’t be considered a sport – I thought I would put $10M into developing esports in Singapore just to troll the letter writer.
As a pioneer in esports since its founding in 2005, Razer has been pushing on multiple fronts to elevate professional gaming across the globe. Razer is the official esports partner of the 30th SEA Games 2019 where esports will become a medal sport for the first time in the world.
As part of its SEA Games endeavour, the company recently organized another world’s first – the Razer SEA Games Esports Bootcamp in Singapore from 2 to 3 September to gather and train the national esports teams from Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Razer invited esports powerhouse Evil Geniuses to train the teams in the game of DOTA2, one of the six official games being contested at the SEA Games.
The past weekend also saw over 2,000 fans thronging the official opening of the new RazerStore in Las Vegas, a hotbed of esports activity and growth in the United States.
This is Razer’s largest ever retail store (over 2,400 sq feet in size) and it will also host esports events in conjunction with industry partners.
Last month (Aug 2019), Razer also received accolades from esports pros and media worldwide for its new Razer Viper gaming mouse. The lightweight Razer Viper was designed with the help of esports athletes and features optical switches for ultra-fast actuation for sheer performance in top tournaments.
Today, Razer works with 18 professional esports teams with athletes from over 25 countries. Collectively known as Team Razer, the athletes include Singapore fighting game champion Xian, Team Alliance and Mousesports.
Razer will also move into its new SE Asia headquarters at one-north, Singapore, in 2020, where it will drive new initiatives in esports and gaming.
