UK-based kids researcher and game developer Dubit has raised US$8 million in funding to support its Metaverse Gaming League (MGL) eSports program.

Unveiled last month, MGL is a Roblox competition series open to all players and hosted by influencers. Companies and brands are able to sponsor its game streams running on Twitch, YouTube and TikTok.

Metaventures and French investor Jean-Charles Capelli led the funding round, which increased Dubit’s value to US$55 million, according to a release. The company plans to use this new capital to expand MGL and launch branded events like concerts and fashion shows on Roblox.

Dubit is positioning its eSports program as a new way for companies to reach the large number of kids already playing on Roblox. It’s also a designed to be a content generation mechanism for brands/clients, as well as an insight-gathering tool for Dubit itself.

Dubit launched MGL on Roblox, but according to co-founder Matthew Warneford, the goal is to expand the program to run on other platforms such as Fortnite Creative and Manticore, where kids can play and build their own games.

eSports was also a way for Dubit to get into the so-called metaverse—a virtual reality space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment as well as other users (think Ready Player One). Dubit is launching a consulting service that will research and create digital development best practices for brands looking to have a presence in this new frontier.