The Gaming Startup plans to use the funds raised from We Founder Circle, Wami Capital, SOSV and Others for scaling up tech and non-tech talent acquisitions, marketing, and operations.
Bengaluru, 27th December 2021: We Founder Circle, a founder-backing-founder based early-stage startup investor and Wami Capital, participated in a Seed round of USD 1.1 million raised by EsportsXO, a SAAS based tournament discovery platform for gaming enthusiasts. The round led by We Founder Circle also witnessed participation from other esteemed investors, including – SOSV, Mumbai Angels Network, SucSEED Indovation Fund, The Gaming Lounge and FAAD Network. The Founding team Vikas Goel, Utsav Umang and Rohit Raj had earlier invested 200K USD in their personal capacity to launch the brand before raising this first investor round.
Bengaluru based startup EsportsXO enables game publishers and brands to launch custom tournaments for users. The brand has strategic planning to build an esports met-averse for fans, players and more. The platform has already registered over 150K users in just 90 days and witnessed a 20% month-on-month growth. XO organised over 250 tournaments in 8 popular games, with over 2 million people participating last year.
On the investment, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Co-Founder, We Founder Circle, said, “SAAS industry has been witnessing tremendous growth in India, given the availability of the quality resources, professionals, and a wide user base. EsportsXO has cut a considerable slice in the market in a concise the unique approach; the brand is sure to resonate with the audience, expand its footprint and join the top leagues soon.”
On the Investment, Chetan Mehta, CEO of Wami Capital, said, “Esports is today one of the fastest-growing segments in the overall global media space. With India’s young demographic profile, access to smartphones, and affordable internet, the Indian esports space will explode and become a $10bn market in the coming years. We are confident that the EsportsXO team, with their market positioning and platform approach, can add a lot of value to game publishers, players, brands and various other stakeholders, not only in India but also globally.”
“Esports in India is at the same stage where e-Commerce was 15 years ago; there are a lot of opportunities for everyone. The market in India and the rest of the APAC region is huge, giving us enough room for creativity and growth, ” said Mr. Vikas Goel, Co-Founder, EsportsXO.
On the Investment, William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of MOX, affirmed, “GenZ spends 90% of their entertainment time on digital and esports is the fastest-growing segment. We believe EsportsXO is well-positioned to be the main esports driver in the Indian market and beyond. We look forward to working with the team to unlock this opportunity.”
“EsportsXO’s USP lies in the SaaS tool, built to focus on their product strategy, with other aspects creating a flywheel effect for the platform. This funding is a testament to their growth and progress, and we believe that it will help the platform reach greater heights,” added Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder & CEO – Mumbai Angels Network.
Aditya Arora, the CEO of Faad Network, added, “eSports market in India is still at a nascent stage with just INR 3 billion USD in market share. However, I see this pie increasing massively as more game developers, eSports players, and even brands are coming from Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets in India. Platforms like eSports XO are the need of the hour to create a unified platform for everyone to manage, interact and grow. “
Vineeta Gupta, VP-Investments, SucSEED Indovation Fund, said, “India is on its path of becoming one of the world’s leading markets in the Esports segment and will also emerge as one of the top 5 markets globally in the gaming industry. We like that EsportsXO is capitalising on this opportunity and will soon emerge as a dominant player.”
According to the startup’s roadmap, EsportsXO has planned to invest 40% of the funds into tech and non-tech talent acquisition. At the same time, the rest funds will majorly be directed towards aggressive marketing and operations.
The brand’s USP lies in the SaaS tool that forms the centre of EsportsXO strategy, with other aspects around the tool creating a nice flywheel effect for the company. It is simultaneously being translated into revenue growth.
