Loco raises INR 330 crores, one of the largest Series A funding rounds in India

Loco, India’s leading game streaming platform, today announced that it has secured a INR 330 crores ($42 Million) investment led by Hashed, with participation from Makers Fund, Catamaran Ventures, and Korea Investment Partners. All the investors from the company’s seed round including Krafton, Lumikai, and Hiro Capital also participated in this round. The new investment will cement Loco’s current leadership position in game streaming and further accelerate the company’s streaming technology and content initiatives. With its new fundraise, Loco will continue investing in the development of the Indian gaming ecosystem and nurturing the Indian gaming community.

Loco has been a pioneer in the live game streaming and esports sector in India, paving the way for gaming to go from a niche hobby to a mainstream national interest. The ‘Made in India’ platform is home to India’s most popular streamers such as Sc0ut, Mavi, Godlike’s Jonathan, Villager Esports, 8Bit-Thug, Ghatak, Kaztro Gaming, Eagle GamingOP, S8ulSid, Clutchgod, Kaashvi, Xyaa, Rakazone, Rawknee, and Ankkita. Loco has built highly engaged communities across various games including BGMI, Call of Duty Mobile, Clash of Clans, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), and Valorant. The platform houses India’s top esports teams like Godlike, XO, Revenant Esports, 8bit, Global Esports, 7Sea esports, Skylightz Gaming, Hyderabad Hydras, OrangutanGaming and has hosted the country’s largest tournaments in partnership with global publishers like Krafton, Activision, Ubisoft, and Riot Games. Loco has built a direct API integration with Krafton, enabling the two companies to reimagine play and watch journeys for fans. The company is also in the process of building in-game integrations with other international partners. In addition to these partnerships, Loco has teamed up with global giants like the NBA, Logitech, and Red Bull to run India-focused esports programs.

Loco has grown rapidly over the last year, with daily active viewers scaling by 15x, monthly active viewers scaling by 8x, monthly active streamers scaling by 5x, and live watch hours scaling by 78x since Jan 2021. Today, highly active users spend over 1 hour daily on Loco, making it the gaming community’s platform of choice for a seamless streaming and highly engaging fan experience. Loco offers a slew of interactive features that are not available on other VOD-first platforms. Moreover, the platform’s focus on mobile gaming communities helps it serve those communities in ways that desktop-focused platforms have not been able to do. Loco helps beginner streamers through various initiatives including its one-click mobile streaming app, a dedicated discover tab, and best-in-class streamer program. Furthermore, Loco is the largest investor in Indian esports content, garnering the lion’s share of Indian esports viewership.

The company believes that gaming will define the customer entertainment experience over the next decade. Powered by 5G, gaming will make entertainment more immersive, providing users with immensely enjoyable social experiences in virtual worlds. In addition, Web3 will transform the nature of ownership of virtual goods, allowing fans to participate in the entertainment process in a more meaningful manner than has ever been possible before. With these tailwinds driving consumer behavior, Loco wants to build the social experience platform for the virtual world, serving the 700 million+ Indians who will experience these virtual worlds in the coming years.

Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, Founders of Loco, said “We started Loco with a mission to democratize gaming and this investment will help us make significant progress towards our end goal. Today, we are the platform where gamers go from being newbies to becoming gaming superstars. We are the campfire for the gaming community - from beginners to the best, they are all here on Loco. Loco is turbocharging the modern fan experience, enabling users to interact with streamers in ways they could not have done before. We are enabling gamers to find their own gaming clan - supporting streamers they love, in a community where they truly belong. Loco is actively transforming the entertainment experience for Indian users and we are excited about the new investors joining us in building the future of entertainment.”

Ethan Kim, Co-founder and Partner, Hashed, said “We are thrilled to partner with Loco as their lead Series A investor. Loco is the leader in game streaming in India and has the country’s most engaged community of gamers on its platform. Users between the ages of 10 and 30 form the bedrock of gaming and esports communities worldwide and India is one of the most interesting global gaming markets, with 40% of its population belonging to this cohort. We believe this new investment round will enable Loco to solidify its dominant position in game streaming and eventually provide the Indian gaming community with cutting edge Web3 products and services.”