[Funding alert] Game streaming platform Loco raises Rs 330 Cr in Series A round led by Hashed

Homegrown game streaming platform Loco on Thursday announced that it has raised Rs 330 crores ($42 million) in its Series A round 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.

With its new fundraise, Loco will continue investing in the development of the Indian gaming ecosystem and nurturing the Indian gaming community, the company stated.

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Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, Founders of Loco, said

“We started Loco with a mission to democratise 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.”

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.

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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 programmes.

Over the last year, Loco has witnessed its 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, according to an official statement.

Furthermore, Loco is the largest investor in Indian esports content, garnering the lion’s share of Indian esports viewership.

Ethan Kim, Co-founder and Partner, Hashed, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Loco as their lead Series A investor. 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 percent 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.”