A CLOTHING brand that’s a big name in the world of esports is managed by a 27-year-old in Swindon.
Sam Wells of Raven GG moved into the Delta Park offices three years ago and spent the pandemic growing his team and his contacts book while fine-tuning the way the jerseys look and feel and can be made in an eco-friendly way.
He founded the start-up at 19 in Bristol after competing in Call of Duty competitions and meeting others with the same business-minded attitude who formed a design agency together before expanding into manufacturing the clothing as well.
Back in 2014, the top prizes for online videogaming tournaments were just headsets or controllers, but now, thousands compete internationally in large arenas for seven-figure cash payouts as millions of people watch each round on livestreams or TV broadcasts.
This huge international audience has likely seen Raven’s logo appear on clothing worn by teams like Dark Zero, Soniqs and Oxygen in monthly and yearly matches on Call of Duty, Rocket League, League of Legends, and Rainbow Six: Siege, which has helped the brand’s reputation grow – but not many people know it’s based here.
Sam said: “We’ve had an investor from the USA and seen growth of over 40 per cent year on year, which has helped us make changes to our office. We set up a pop-up shop in London which went really well, there was a meet-and-greet with some big streamers, we’d like to do more customer engagement events like that.
“I’m quite academic and entrepreneurial. I’ve always wanted to start a business and I played games as a hobby so I mixed the two together. It’s a niche market with huge opportunities.
“I worked out of my mum and dad’s house originally then took on my first employee in 2017. We’ve done events in the UK and Europe – and soon, America – but want to supply customers on all levels.”
Along with the big tournaments, Sam and his colleagues are keen to focus on smaller-scale grassroots esports. They work with videogame retailer Game, who allow children and adults of all ages to compete in ‘Belong’ tournaments around the country before bringing the best together for an Arena Clash finale.
Raven is associated with National Student Esports to supply jerseys to players in up to 100 universities around the UK – and hope to work with New College in the near future.
An online platform on its website raven.gg allows amateur teams and players to design their own custom clothing.
