Loco, a live streaming platform in India, has secured $9 million in a funding round from various investors including Krafton Inc. Several other investors like Lakumai Ltd., Hero Capital invested in the seed round. 3one4 Capital and Axilor Ventures are also among the early investors in this Mumbai-based startup.
Apart from this Loco deal, Krafton Inc. has been actively participating in several activities to make its presence more lively in the Indian esports ecosystem. Earlier, the South Korean game developers invested a massive amount of $22.4 million in Nodwin Gaming to develop esports in the South Asian region.
Loco has expanded exponentially in the last year with a large increase in its numbers. The monthly active users have grown six times and their active streamers have increased by 10 times according to a Bloomberg report. The courtesy of this incredible growth is due to its participation in multiple events as a partner and its ability to add big streamers to Loco’s arsenal.
The startup said that they are going to use this funding to upgrade its technology and content. Loco Co-Founder Anirudh Pandita stated that “Cheap data and inexpensive phones brewed a perfect situation in India, creating a completely new category of entertainment. Over 100 million monthly active users in India engage with these games, imagine 100 million people playing a sport that no one’s watching — that’s what Loco set out to solve for.”
General Partner of Lumikai, Salone Sehgal said that “Over two-thirds of India’s millennials are gamers. India’s esports and streaming industry is set to grow at an average annual clip of 36% over the next three years, while game streaming watch time in India is already twice the global average.”
Loco Co-founder Ashwin Suresh said “India’s big focus is on mobile games. The best mobile game players in the world will definitely come from India.”
Mobile gaming has certainly been the biggest contributor in the esports industry for the Southeast Asian region and as Indian companies are securing enormous funds, a positive impact might be seen on the Indian esports ecosystem as well.
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