Here at Konvoy, we spend all of our time focused on the video gaming industry. Within gaming, there are many sub verticals, trends, and data points that we actively track. All of this helps inform our thesis on where to invest as a venture capital firm. Of the many trends, three worth highlighting for this latest investment are:
- The continued acceleration of mobile
- Underserved demographics
- Competition around entertainment.
Today, hundreds of millions of consumers (especially Gen Z and Millenials) have almost no betting platforms that cater to some of their greatest interests (outside of traditional sports) in a fun, social, and competitive way. This is why we were thrilled to be the lead investor in Goss, a one-of-a-kind business which is meeting a pressing need in the gaming market.
Gamification is becoming an important feature in engagement. When looking at the current entertainment space outside of gaming it’s one-way: you consume the content. Goss is adding a social interaction layer through gamifying one-way media. By allowing users to compete and wager on popular forms of media, Goss is creating a community. The media itself isn’t changing but the way it can be consumed is changing. A new market will emerge by creating communities around this media.
The appetite from many consumers to engage with reality TV, celebrity culture, and entertainment is there, but traditional betting platforms don’t have a sophisticated enough offering to meet the expertise of Goss's audience. Users can wager coins on various bets (for example, who will not get a rose on the next Bachelor episode) and then cash their winnings out for quality prizes.
Throughout 2020, the lack of traditional sports highlighted the need for more platforms like goss. This platform is an excellent mobile gaming alternative to the oversaturated world of traditional sports (and adjacent apps). The goss team, Mel, Jesse, and Joe, have been a pleasure to work with. As the first investment out of our second fund, we were thrilled to lead their $2.1M seed round and join them for this journey. This round also included a great cohort of investors such as Flybridge, Velo Partners, Sterling VC, and Transcend.
