Jens Hilgers (born 1975) is a German entrepreneur, known for his work in the

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

industry. He was the founding CEO of the

Electronic Sports League The ESL Gaming GmbH, doing business as ESL (formerly known as Electronic Sports League), is a German esports organizer and production company that produces video game competitions worldwide. ESL was the world's largest esports company in 2015, ...

(ESL) — one of the oldest and largest esports organizers which sold for $1.05B to Savvy Gaming Group in 2022. He is a co-founder and the CEO of Bayes (formerly Dojo Madness), an esports data company based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 2014, he co-founded

G2 Esports G2 Esports (G2) is a European esports organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in ''League of Legends'', ''Valorant'', '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', '' Hearthstone'', ''Rocket League'', ''Rainbow Six Siege ...

together with Carlos "Ocelote" Rodriguez, and currently serves as its chairman. He is also the founding general partner of BITKRAFT Ventures, a global early- and mid-stage investment platform for gaming, esports, and

Web3 Web3 (also known as Web 3.0) is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web which incorporates concepts such as decentralization, blockchain technologies, and token-based economics. Some technologists and journalists have contrasted it w ...

which he started in 2015. He has been credited as an early pioneer of the esports industry.

Background

Hilgers was born in 1975 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany and completed his studies in

software development Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invol ...

in 1998, before founding and managing multiple startups in the tech and games/esports business. Receiving first

Amiga 500 The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, is the first low-end version of the Amiga home computer. It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to that ...

computer in 1988 was a defining moment in his life around computers, online games, and hacking that turned into a professional career. Hilgers thinks that his childhood obsession with

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

games has something to do with his love for building products.

Career

Hilgers began his esports career in 1997. While in college, he built Gamers.de, a news portal for online

PC game A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...

s; launched the first German Clan League and created Gamers Gathering, a European Lan-Party.

Turtle Entertainment

In 2000, Hilgers founded Turtle Entertainment GmbH based in

, Germany. Turtle Entertainment is the parent company of

ESL English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

, and Hilgers served as its CEO until 2010 when he transitioned to chairman of the board. The company operates online platforms and TV studios broadcasting tournaments in the gaming industry. During his ten-year tenure as CEO, Hilgers grew the company into a notable brand and made significant contributions to the esports industry.

Modern Times Group Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosoph ...

bought a

majority stake A controlling interest is an ownership interest in a corporation with enough voting stock shares to prevail in any stockholders' motion. A majority of voting shares (over 50%) is always a controlling interest. When a party holds less than the major ...

in ESL for $86 million when Hilgers was its chairman in 2015. He also served as CEO at GIGA Digital Television GmbH and co-owns G2 Esports, a competitive esports team based in

, Germany.

Bayes

In 2014, Hilgers founded Bayes (formerly Dojo Madness), an esports startup based in Berlin, Germany. Bayes pioneered AI-based Esports coaching with its League of Legends Coaching APP LOLSUMO and moved to become a provider for professional esports data in partnership with Sportradar. In 2017, under the leadership of Raine Ventures and participation from Kakao's K Cube Ventures and investors, Dojo raised a total of $12.75 million in another round of funding. In 2020, Bayes announced the closing of a $6 million funding round today, which included participation from the Pohlad Family investment group, Fertitta Capital, Sony Innovation Fund, and other sports and media investors.

G2 Esports

In 2015, Hilgers co-founded G2 Esports (formerly Gamers2), one of the leading global

and entertainment brands, alongside League of Legends player-turned-team owner, Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodriguez. Since its inception, G2 Esports has raised $27.3M, including a $10M investment round from

Joseph Tsai Joseph Tsai (; born January 1964) is a Hong Kong-Canadian billionaire businessman, lawyer, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder and executive vice chairman of the Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba Group and owns the Brooklyn Net ...

. The European esports organization is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with players competing in

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for War ...

Valorant ''Valorant'' is a free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games, for Windows. Teased under the codename ''Project A'' in October 2019, the game began a closed beta period with limited access on April 7 ...

, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,

Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a free-to-play online digital collectible card game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthstone'' builds upon the existing lore of the ''Warcraft'' series by u ...

Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June 2016, ...

Rainbow Six Siege ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege'' is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1, 2015; the game w ...

, and

Sim Racing Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire ...

BITKRAFT Ventures

In 2015, Hilgers launched BITKRAFT Ventures, an investment platform for gaming and Web3 globally. BITKRAFT has been the most active gaming venture capital firm and lead investor in 2020 and 2021, according to research from Invest Game and Drake Star Partners.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilgers, Jens Living people 1975 births Businesspeople from Berlin German biographies ESL (company)