A former League of Legends championship e-sports team has launched a new fantasy sports site for League of Legends spectators. The idea from Vulcun is to make e-sports lucrative not just for the professional gamers but for the spectators as well.
The site enables players to form their own fantasy sports teams based on the top-ranked players of League of Legends, which is one of the most popular online games in the world. Vulcan has created a $250,000 prize pool for the 2015 League of Legends Pro LCS season. It says this is the largest prize pool ever for fantasy e-sports.
The site features daily free and paid contests in the salary cap format. You act as a team’s manager, creating a roster of favorite players within a limited team budget. The roster then competes against everyone else’s rosters on a daily basis. Players win cash if their pro players do well. The site currently features European and North American league games.
Vulcan’s founders include Ali Moiz and Murtaza Hussain, who are both veterans of Internet startups. Moiz was the cofounder of Peanut Labs, a research startup that was acquired in 2011. Hussain worked at Peanut Labs, and he partnered with Moiz on startups for the better part of a decade.
“We’ve been passionate about and involved in the e-sports scene for several years. I love the LCS, and never miss a game,” Moiz said in a statement. “Vulcun is a great way for all League fans to compete and win prizes while watching LCS games. We’re giving away $250,000 this season.”
Voyboy, a former pro player who’s played with Curse (now Team Liquid), Dignitas,and CLG, said in a statement, “You guys might remember the old team Vulcun; this is a fantasy league by the same name, same guys — really awesome people.”
The LCS tournament starts in a week, so Vulcan is getting its site off the ground now.
Vulcun has raised $1.3 million in funding from top-tier Silicon Valley investors including eVentures, Battery Ventures, and 500Startups.
Moiz said, “We’re planning to re-invest every single dollar we make at increasing the prize pool for League fans. Our next goal for the prize pool: $1 million. With your support, we can get there this year.”