Grid Finder
Grid Finder is a UK-based esports platform that helps sim racers discover leagues and events across 60+ games while providing community managers with scheduling, standings, and driver management tools, complemented by a livery marketplace and Discord bot.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersNewcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Grid Finder does
Grid Finder Limited is a Newcastle-upon-Tyne-based esports startup, founded in 2020, that operates a web-based platform aggregating the fragmented sim racing ecosystem across more than 60 games and six hardware platforms (PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch). The platform serves two primary user types: competitive sim racers seeking leagues and events, and league/community managers who need scheduling, standings, and driver-management tooling. Supporting modules include a livery marketplace for designers, a broadcasters/commentators directory, and a free Discord bot that extends management functionality into the messaging channels where sim racing communities already operate.
The product is built around event discovery and community management features, with sign-in via Discord or Google and a self-serve community-creation flow. The platform indexes thousands of events with filters for game, platform, and day of the week, and hosts partnered communities ranging from 46 to 2,645 members (over 8,000 in aggregate), including IMSA Esports Club, Competitive Speed Series, World Online Racing, British University Sim Racing, and traditional motorsport club 750 Motor Club.
Grid Finder's business model is freemium at the user level with no publicly disclosed premium pricing tier. Monetization signals are limited to event sponsorship and brand partnerships — notably the Grid Finder Nostalgia Series with Outlier Speed Co and FDesign as sponsors, in collaboration with Prodigy Racing Association. The company has raised approximately £525,000 in disclosed funding through a June 2022 angel syndicate (led by Kevin Beales, £200,000) and a February 2023 Creative UK / North of Tyne investment (£100,000), which reportedly catalyzed up to £825,000 in additional private investment. Go-to-market is community-led, relying on Discord, partnerships with established leagues, and SEO-indexed event pages rather than paid acquisition.
Grid Finder firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Grid Finder
- Legal name
- Grid Finder Limited
- Website
- https://gridfinder.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Grid Finder is a UK-based esports platform that helps sim racers discover leagues and events across 60+ games while providing community managers with scheduling, standings, and driver management tools, complemented by a livery marketplace and Discord bot.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Grid Finder industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sim Racing Community Platform
- NAICS
- Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Esports Competition Platforms (Tournament Platforms, Matchmaking, Ladders) (MPAFADAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Gaming Social Networks & Community Platforms (profiles, guilds, forums, discovery) (MPAFAIAD), Vertical/Specialty Search (e.g., jobs, real estate, travel, products) (BPAMAAAD)
Keywords
Where Grid Finder is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newcastle Upon Tyne
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Grid Finder business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Free Platform Access: The platform is free for users to join communities, find events, and participate in leagues across 60+ supported games. Revenue generation mechanisms are not explicitly disclosed in available sources.
- Community Sponsorship & Partnerships: Partners with esports organizations and racing brands for sponsored championships and events, such as Grid Finder Nostalgia Series with prizes from Outlier Speed Co and FDesign
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Access - Core platform features available at no cost |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Grid Finder product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Grid Finder is a free web platform that helps sim racers discover leagues, communities, events, and liveries across 60+ racing games (iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo, Forza, F1 series, etc.) and multiple consoles (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch). It also provides community management tools for league organizers to create, schedule, and track championships, plus a Discord bot, a livery marketplace, and a broadcasters/commentators directory.
Product overview
Grid Finder operates as a unified sim racing platform offering multiple integrated services. The core platform provides event discovery and community management tools, complemented by a livery marketplace for design sharing and a broadcasters/commentators directory. All services are accessible across 60+ racing games including iRacing, Assetto Corsa, F1 series, Gran Turismo, Forza, and many more, with support for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Grid Finder Platform Unified sim racing platform for individual racers and league managers to find events, join communities, browse liveries, and locate broadcasters across 60+ games on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch.
- Sim Racing Events Search and discovery service allowing users to browse thousands of sim racing events across 60+ games, filterable by platform, game, and day of the week.
- Sim Racing Communities Service enabling users to create, manage, and join sim racing communities, schedule events, manage members, and run championships across various racing games.
- Sim Racing Liveries Marketplace Marketplace where livery designers can browse and distribute racing livery designs to the sim racing community across multiple racing games.
- Sim Racing Broadcasters & Commentators Directory service for locating broadcasters and commentators available to cast sim racing events and community championships.
- Grid Finder Discord Bot Free downloadable Discord bot that integrates Grid Finder community management features into Discord servers, including notifications and event management.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 8,000 members across partnered communities with individual communities ranging from 46 to 2,645 members
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Grid Finder
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Grid Finder technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature5 records
Grid Finder partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Outlier Speed CominorSponsor of the Grid Finder Nostalgia Series Season 2. Provides 3-month Full Pro Membership as championship prize and raffles 3-month Oval setup subscription at season's end.
- FDesignminorSponsor of the Grid Finder Nostalgia Series Season 2. Provides free liveries as prizes for race winners.
- Prodigy Racing AssociationcoreCollaborative partner hosting the Grid Finder Nostalgia Series, a 12-round iRacing championship with NASCAR Gen4 cars. Provides weekly giveaways, prizes, and community racing events.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Grid Finder competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Traxion.gg: UK-based media and events platform dedicated to sim racing, covering news, reviews, and competitive sim-racing events. Comparable because it serves the same audience of sim racers and racing communities from a UK editorial/events base, directly intersecting with Grid Finder's discovery and community use cases.
- OverTake.gg: Sim-racing news, reviews, and community forum site that hosts league listings and community discussion for titles like iRacing, Assetto Corsa, and rFactor. Directly comparable as a discovery and community hub for sim racers across multiple games, sitting in the same fragmented value chain as Grid Finder.
- RaceDepartment: Long-standing online community and forum for sim racing and motorsport with member-run leagues, mods, and downloads. Directly comparable as a community-led platform where sim racers find leagues and share content, though it leans more forum/media than structured event/league management.
- SimRacingGP: Online sim-racing league platform that schedules championships across multiple simulators and ranks drivers in centralized standings. Directly comparable in tooling league management, driver ranking, and scheduled competition — the same core jobs-to-be-done as Grid Finder's event and community modules.
- Lowfuel Motorsport: Sim-racing editorial and event operator covering leagues, championships, and gear for the iRacing/ACC community. Comparable as a publisher and event organizer serving sim racers looking for competitions — overlapping with Grid Finder's discovery and sponsorship monetization plays.
- VCO (Virtual Competition Organisation): Sim-racing esports operator that organizes and broadcasts official virtual racing championships in partnership with real-world motorsport brands. Comparable as a community/league/tournament operator in sim racing, though VCO is more tournament-operator and Grid Finder is more discovery/community-management.
Broad incumbents
- iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations: The dominant subscription-based sim-racing platform and the publisher whose underlying game ecology (iRacing, official series, leagues) feeds Grid Finder's listings. Comparable as the canonical destination for organized sim racing — a broad incumbent against which Grid Finder positions as the cross-game aggregator layer.
- ESL FACEIT Group: Global esports tournament operator and platform running leagues, matchmaking, and content across many game titles. Comparable as a broad incumbent that demonstrates how a tournament/community platform can scale across multiple games — the same cross-game model Grid Finder is attempting in the narrower sim-racing vertical.
Others
- RaceRoom Entertainment (Sector3): Developer of RaceRoom Racing Experience (R3E), a sim-racing game with built-in online leagues and competitions. Comparable as an ecosystem participant — a game publisher whose official leagues and player pools are themselves listings on Grid Finder, illustrating both partnership and competition dynamics.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Grid Finder social profiles
Digital presenceGrid Finder financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Grid Finder leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Grid Finder funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Grid Finder M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Grid Finder
What does Grid Finder do?
Grid Finder is a free web platform that helps sim racers discover leagues, communities, events, and liveries across 60+ racing games (iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo, Forza, F1 series, etc.) and multiple consoles (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch). It also provides community management tools for league organizers to create, schedule, and track championships, plus a Discord bot, a livery marketplace, and a broadcasters/commentators directory.
Is Grid Finder a public or private company?
Grid Finder is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Grid Finder founded?
Grid Finder was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Grid Finder based?
Grid Finder is headquartered in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Grid Finder make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Free Platform Access are the primary driver. The others are community Sponsorship & Partnerships.
Who are Grid Finder's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Traxion.gg, OverTake.gg, RaceDepartment, SimRacingGP, Lowfuel Motorsport and VCO (Virtual Competition Organisation). Broad incumbents are iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations and ESL FACEIT Group. RaceRoom Entertainment (Sector3) is listed as an others.
Does Grid Finder have an API?
No public API is recorded for Grid Finder.
What industry is Grid Finder in?
Grid Finder's product category is Sim Racing Community Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFADAF, Esports Competition Platforms (Tournament Platforms, Matchmaking, Ladders), with a secondary code of MPAFAIAD, Gaming Social Networks & Community Platforms (profiles, guilds, forums, discovery). Its NAICS code is 711211.