Rooter raises $16M in growth round to control burn, acquire gaming assets

Gaming-focused streaming startup Rooter has raised $16 million (Rs 131 crore) through debt and equity in a growth round led by Lightbox. Trifecta Capital, Pivot Ventures, Baldota Family Office, Global Play Media, Denlow Private Trust, Venture Catalysts, and Potential Ventures joined its cap table in this round.

The fresh capital will be utilised towards improving Rooter's tech capabilities, sharpening its existing offerings, and enhancing the user experience on its platform, it said in a statement.

Piyush Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of Rooter told YourStory that it will also look to acquire gaming assets such as creator tools and tech tools that will support creators on the platform. Kumar did not disclose which companies made the shortlist for acquisition.

Akin to its international competitor Twitch, Rooter also helps gamers stream games, connect with viewers, and actively create a fan following. It currently has over 50 million downloads on Google Play Store.

Rooter has achieved 4X growth touching $7 million in Annual Run Rate (ARR) this year. It intends to continue on the momentum going and control burn, Kumar told YourStory. "That is the biggest task of this round is to help us get there [control burn]," he added.

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In a bid to control burn, Kumar says the company has slashed its creator base to 1 million from 1.2 million. At the moment, about 20,000 users earn their livelihood from Rooter, he said.

Nonetheless, Rooter still has 18 million monthly active users as of late, with about 1.6 million logging on the platform daily. "We will continue to grow this user base but focus more on users who we can monetise and not change it," he said.

While the platform spends nearly Rs 8.2 to acquire a user, about 50% of its user base is organic, Kumar told YourStory. On the other hand, Rooter also has plans to partner with esports teams, tournament organisers, and streamers.

Gaming has not yet reached its peak, says Kumar, adding that it will take another 3-5 years for gaming companies to see widespread success in the country.

Last year, Rooter, along with Loco, went head-to-head to acquire top talent for its platform. The former eventually clinched a deal with esports team Godlike, which was reportedly one of the largest deals in the industry.

"For Gaming Hub...we signed up [with] SkySports, which is one of the most aggressive esports tournament organisers. We partnered with Nodwin on a couple of projects and about 35 people from Godlike... we work with almost all the top 10 teams, so about 80% of the market is working with us," Kumar said.

(This story has been updated to correct a factual error and revise a figure)