Sam Asfahani, CEO, Mercury Group

Industry: Gaming
Summary: A collective using the power of community and content to grow companies in the rapidly expanding gaming industry.

Highlights:

  • Mercury Group is the intersection for gaming and culture and are building the future of the community.
  • Mercury Group is led by Sam Asfahani, an industry innovator that has built, run, and sold successful businesses, designed entire eSports leagues and produced some of the most critically acclaimed content in gaming and sports.
  • Mercury Group has two existing subsidiaries with proven track records, and has room to expand:
  • OS Venues are the future of social entertainment. A membership based venue for gamers, creators and brands. Built in the heart of major cosmopolitan cities, the spaces are premium in build and design. Elevating the experience in gaming and culture. OS NYC is their first location, and flagship, with a proven track record and avid community.
  • The Upload Society is their solution to what a modern network should be. They want to empower the community to create content they couldn't produce and reach audiences they couldn't reach on their own. Democratizing content by rewarding users to fuel the constant need for fresh content on their network.
  • Mercury Group's first subsidiary, OS Studios, an industry leading production agency, was acquired by Project Worldwide, providing a 4X return to seed investors in less than 20 months.
  • OS NYC was averaging 6,000 visitors through the door per month, and has already hosted over 150 events. The venue successfully weathered the COVID storm, focusing on private hires and content shoots. Now, with a favorable lease extension and new liquor license, the venue has reopened with an even healthier business model and will be at profitability by year-end. Future venues are being scouted in Seattle, Austin and London, as well as inbound collaboration requests to place OS Lounges in multi-use spaces with brands such as Hypebeast and Washington Justice.
  • The Upload Society (launched as a pilot under the code name Operating System TV), acquired over 1M viewers in less than 10 months of operation. Built on the basis of a more efficient content acquisition model, the pilot was able to maintain a cost per viewer acquired of $0.20 and a cost of an hour watched of $1.08 - over 3X less than the a leading esports brand. This concept is primed to be scaled out.
Seeking: Raising $11.5M at a $40M pre-money valuation

Sam Asfahani, CEO, Mercury Group

Industry: Gaming
Summary: A collective using the power of community and content to grow companies in the rapidly expanding gaming industry.

Highlights:

  • Mercury Group is the intersection for gaming and culture and are building the future of the community.
  • Mercury Group is led by Sam Asfahani, an industry innovator that has built, run, and sold successful businesses, designed entire eSports leagues and produced some of the most critically acclaimed content in gaming and sports.
  • Mercury Group has two existing subsidiaries with proven track records, and has room to expand:
  • OS Venues are the future of social entertainment. A membership based venue for gamers, creators and brands. Built in the heart of major cosmopolitan cities, the spaces are premium in build and design. Elevating the experience in gaming and culture. OS NYC is their first location, and flagship, with a proven track record and avid community.
  • The Upload Society is their solution to what a modern network should be. They want to empower the community to create content they couldn't produce and reach audiences they couldn't reach on their own. Democratizing content by rewarding users to fuel the constant need for fresh content on their network.
  • Mercury Group's first subsidiary, OS Studios, an industry leading production agency, was acquired by Project Worldwide, providing a 4X return to seed investors in less than 20 months.
  • OS NYC was averaging 6,000 visitors through the door per month, and has already hosted over 150 events. The venue successfully weathered the COVID storm, focusing on private hires and content shoots. Now, with a favorable lease extension and new liquor license, the venue has reopened with an even healthier business model and will be at profitability by year-end. Future venues are being scouted in Seattle, Austin and London, as well as inbound collaboration requests to place OS Lounges in multi-use spaces with brands such as Hypebeast and Washington Justice.
  • The Upload Society (launched as a pilot under the code name Operating System TV), acquired over 1M viewers in less than 10 months of operation. Built on the basis of a more efficient content acquisition model, the pilot was able to maintain a cost per viewer acquired of $0.20 and a cost of an hour watched of $1.08 - over 3X less than the a leading esports brand. This concept is primed to be scaled out.
Seeking: Raising $11.5M at a $40M pre-money valuation