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Azubu raises $59M in debt to create an esports rival to Twitch

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 3 min

Azubu has raised 55 million euros, or $59 million in U.S. currency, in a debt financing aimed at creating a livestreaming business based on esports. Pro gaming has become a big business, and Azubu believes it can be more focused on it than its bigger rival, Twitch, which was purchased last year by Amazon for $970 million.

Sherman Oaks, California-based Azubu streams live video of professional video game competitions, known as esports, to spectators. The esports market is expected to grow from $748 million in 2015 to $1.9 billion by 2018, according to market researcher SuperData Research.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.