Investors pour $15M into mobile game cash prize platform Skillz

Investors have seen fit to bet another $15 million on Skillz, a company founded in 2012 with the goal of providing a platform that mobile game developers can use to accept and pay out real money to their players.

That brings the firm's financing total to $28 million so far, making it a bit of a bellwether in the nascent industry of mobile games offering real-money payouts. Skillz will use its newfound cash to bolster its marketing efforts (the company bills itself as offering 'eSports for everyone') and staff up as it debuts new support for developers to manage live events.

The platform already supports developers running cash prize tournaments (with or without entry fees) and offering payouts based on loyalty or leaderboard performance in games like Parking Battle and Real Money Totem.

"With more people playing video games than all physical sports, eSports are achieving mainstream adoption, and Skillz is leading the way," investor and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry stated in a press release confirming Skillz' $15 million Series B funding round. 

"It's easy to imagine the day when eSports competitions share the same court as the Milwaukee Bucks."