Startup Stars: eFuse

Columbus-based eFuse connects gamers with real-world opportunities

BY OLIVIA BALCERZAK | PHOTOS BY BRIAN KAISER

Gaming is about so much more than the isolated player sitting alone in the basement: it’s about community. Local company eFuse has made creating connections within the gaming community part of its mission, so much so that its official tagline is for the gamers.

Since its creation in August 2018, eFuse has grown into something bigger: it’s created jobs, awarded scholarships and forged ties between a rapidly growing number of members. In the words of founder and CEO Matthew Benson, “it’s the professional hub for esports and video games,” akin to LinkedIn for this field.

(614) spoke with Benson, and Thomas Newton, eFuse’s director of operations, to learn more about the company and why building connections matters in the gaming community.

(614): What was the idea behind creating eFuse?

MB: Really, it was a combination of a couple of passions of mine. So I grew up a gamer, I played a lot early on, wasn’t good enough to play anywhere competitively but loved and appreciated what gaming could do from a unification and exploratory standpoint. [I] just kind of fell in love with the culture of it, but didn’t understand necessarily the makeup of it from a business standpoint.

I […] took a class while I was at OU that allowed us to understand what the professional landscape of each video game actually looks like. When I was in college and also while working with the Ohio Innovation Fund here in Columbus (a venture capital firm), those three experiences led me to see an opportunity in the professional collaboration side of the industry. So in that sense what we’re doing is helping to take talent— so aspiring gamers, aspiring business professionals in the industry, really just people that have a passion for gaming— and then helping to place them into opportunity.

Describe a little bit about what eFuse is?

MB: At a high level, we are a hub for esports and video games. What that means is we are a web and mobile application that is focused on essentially creating a network of professionals in the gaming community. So whether you’re a high school student that wants to go play games at the next level or you’re an executive in the industry— maybe at a brand or one of the professional teams—you can be on eFuse and join our network.

And at the core, what the technology actually does is help facilitate recruitment to fulfill opportunities. So one of the really unique things about gaming is that as it’s achieving the scale and growing as a whole, new opportunities—like scholarships to play varsity-level esports at universities, tournaments, team openings at the professional level, new jobs and internships—are all being created. But there’s not a great system for organizations to use to recruit talent. And on the flip end of the spectrum, there’s not a great way for talent to understand what those opportunities are and access them. eFuse sits in the middle between talent and opportunity, and then helps to facilitate recruitment and collaboration.

Why do you think it’s important to provide this sort of service for the gaming community?

MB: [I] grew up a gamer, loved gaming and I think, as the industry as a whole is growing, one of the dangers that arises is it’s sort of becoming a buzzword, the hot thing right now. Everybody wants to be in gaming and there’s a lot of money being thrown into it.

My concern is the infrastructure to support an ecosystem and a network this size […] doesn’t exist. So for me, eFuse was a way to not only unify the current community, but to provide a structure that can essentially help build the ecosystem and solidify the ecosystem over time to make this a societal norm instead of this outcasting initiative. TN: One of our missions is [...] helping kids to find their passions, and helping them make those passions their careers going forward. And that is really what we’re trying to do at the end of the day. [We’re helping] those kids who are interested in gaming, who may not want to play professionally but still have an interest in being involved in the industry. We’re trying to help them to find a way that they can continue to live in this space that they are very passionate about, work in a space that they are very passionate about.

We just recently gave a scholarship to one of our eFuse users […] and just to see the impact on that scholarship for him and his life, for us it made eFuse worth it.

One of our missions is [...] helping kids to find their passions, and helping them make those passions their careers going forward.

How have you seen eFuse grow since it began?

MB: The growth has been awesome. As far as product, it’s sort of gone leaps and bounds above what we thought it could be and we’re really excited about where it’s still continuing to go. We actually launched, in full version, on January 2 of this year, so anybody can go on efuse.gg and sign up for our web version. And we’ll quickly release our mobile app soon, but we’re seeing growth there every day anywhere between 4 and 8 percent, which is really exciting for us. •