[Funding alert] Social gaming startup Eloelo raises $2.1M in pre-Series A from Waterbridge and Lumikai

Bengaluru-based creator-led live social gaming platform - EloElo on Tuesday raised $2.1 million in a pre-Series A round, co-led by Waterbridge Ventures and Lumikai Fund (India’s 1st gaming and interactive media fund). Better Capital and talent management firm Exceed Entertainment also participated in the round.

The company stated that this infusion of funds will augment its continued focus on creator partnerships as well as aid the launch of new live game formats, scaling the platform to the next 10M users.

Founded in August 2020 by Saurabh Pandey and Akshay Dubey — an IIT-IIM founder duo with collective experience across P&G, GoZoomo, and Flipkart — Eloelo brings indigenous activities like tambola, antakshari, chidiya udd, musical chairs, and talented performers in live formats with creators hosting games for their community of fans.

Saurabh Pandey, CEO and Co-Founder of Eloelo, said,

“Live Video is increasingly resonating with fans as it helps them build ‘authentic’ relationships with creators. Today, our users spend anywhere between 30-35 minutes daily enjoying Live games, Live streams on our App. In the next one year, we will be launching multiple creator-led Live Games and Event formats that unlocks monetisation for creators and interactive entertainment for users.”

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Over the past six months, EloElo claims to have seen a 15X spike in users, crossing one million users on its platform with over 100 million game events recorded. The platform has onboarded over 15,000 influencers organically over the past few months.

“There are over 5 million creators in India but over 97 percent of them have very limited income opportunities. With our differentiated offering, we have seen a lot of the excitement from creators who have joined the platform and invited their fans from social platforms as well”, added Akshay Dubey, Co-Founder, EloElo.

Justin Shriram Keeling, General Partner of Lumikai commented,

“Saurabh and Akshay have captured lightning in a bottle with Eloelo. In under nine months, they’ve built India’s leading creator-led social gaming community. EloElo has fostered an inclusive, welcoming and safe community for friends and family to play together, and for fans to become stars in their own right. We look forward to working with the team as they build a truly next-generation social community leveraging the power of play for the next 10 million fans”.

“The creator economy is experiencing an inflection point around the world and across market segments like India, Bharat, Gaming, and more. A brand new infrastructure is being built to help creators build, earn and grow. Eloelo is just that - an engine of growth for creators in Bharat and India”, said Vaibhav Domkundwar of Better Capital.

Further adding, Ravi Kaushik, Partner at Waterbridge Ventures stated,

“Saurabh and Akshay are truly building a one of a kind gamified live platform for content creators. Their best-in-class engagement & retention metrics in addition to over 1 million users on the platform demonstrates the unique value proposition of the platform. We have been partners with Eloelo since day one and this marks an important a milestone in their vision of creating India's largest platform for the Creator Economy."