India livestreaming platform Eloelo raises $22m
US investors Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners have led a USD 22m pre-Series B round for Indian social gaming and livestreaming platform Eloelo.
Local GPs Kalaari Capital, WaterBridge Ventures, and Lumikai also participated, as did Convivialite Ventures and Rocket Capital Investment of the US. They were joined by KB Global Star Game & Apps, a Korea special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and Japanese social media company Mixi, which launched a USD 50m VC fund targeting Indian start-ups last month.
It follows a USD 13m Series A last year led by KB Investment and Kalaari that also featured WaterBridge, Lumikai, Rocket Capital, and Convivialite. WaterBridge, Lumikai, Better Capital, and digital talent agency Exceed Entertainment provided a USD 2.1m seed round the prior year.
Eloelo is an influencer-led interactive gaming and entertainment platform that enables creators to share videos and host games on a live video stream. Features include live chat, virtual gifting, and augmented reality functions.
The idea is that by allowing creators to host interactive live events with participative games inside live shows, they can establish engagement and deepen bonds with their audience. The service is available in six languages currently and looking to expand into more languages as it targets users in tier-two and tier-three cities.
The platform accumulated more than 3m users and 80m creators within 18m months of its launch in 2020, according to Kalaari. It is now said to host more than 37m users and 120,000 creators. CEO Saurabh Pandey described the business as growing at a rate of 400% a year.
“Bit speechless right now given what a roller coaster the last few months have been,” Pandey said in a social media post.
“At Eloelo, we are pioneering a new category of live social entertainment, and with this pre-Series B funding, we are now poised to build something truly extraordinary – a digital third place or simply put, a ‘party in your pocket,’ where Indians connect and hang out over livestreams, play games, and make their own entertainment together.”
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