EsportsXO, a SAAS-based tournament discovery platform, raised USD 1.1 million in a Seed Round, which was led by WeFounder Circle and Wami Capital. The round also had 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 start-up EsportsXO enables opportunities for 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 a span of just 90 days and is witnessing a 20% month-on-month growth. XO organised over 250+ tournaments in 8 popular games with over 2 million people participating in the last 1 year.
Bhawna Bhatnagar, Co-Founder WeFounder Circle, said the 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 very short span of time. Given the unique approach the brand is sure to resonate with the audience, expand its footprint and join the top- leagues soon.”
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 is going to explode and can become a $10bn market in the coming years. We are confident that the EsportsXO team, with their market positioning and platform approach, can add lot of value to game publishers, players, brands and various other stakeholders, not only in India but also globally”
Vikas Goel, Co-Founder of EsportsXO, believes 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 very huge which gives us enough room for creativity and growth.”
William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV and Managing Director of MOx, said 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 driver of esports in the India market and beyond and we look forward to working with the team to unlock this opportunity.”
Nandini Mansinghka, Co-Founder and CEO, Mumbai Angels Network, said 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 height.”
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Aditya Arora, CEO – Faad Network said, 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 it’s 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, while the rest will majorly be directed towards aggressive marketing and operations.
The brand’s USP lies in the SaaS tool that forms the center of EsportsXO strategy, with other aspects around the tool creating a nice flywheel effect for the company, that is simultaneously being translated in the revenue growth.
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