Krafton is a game developer for PC and mobile devices that focuses on fantasy games.  Its vision is to stay a household name in video game development by keeping true to its core value of craftmanship.

Krafton

Lumikai is the first gaming and interactive media venture fund.

Lumikai

NBM is a specialized firm that successfully pioneered global digital-media investing over the last decade, backing successes like IDN Media in Indonesia, Pocket Aces in India, TheNewsLens in Taiwan and Capital Digital in Mexico. Its first venture fund, launched in 2015, consistently ranks in the top quartile of media and global venture funds. The Fund, which has been backed by several of the world’s leading media brands, is now open to other investors as its investment team moves to take advantage of the sudden rise of opportunities and new valuations in the global media landscape.   NBM’s co-founders are Marcus Brauchli, the former top editor at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal; Sasa Vucinic, the longtime CEO of the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF). The firm’s general counsel is Stuart Karle, former COO of Reuters and General Counsel of the Journal.

North Base Media

Axilor Ventures is an early stage seed fund and startup accelerator founded by some of the iconic entrepreneurs and business leaders, which include Kris Gopalakrishnan, S D Shibulal, Professor Tarun Khanna, Srinath Batni and Ganapathy Venugopal. In the last three years, Axilor has supported more than 80 startups, made 30+ investments and has an active Alumni network of 150+ founders.. Axilor focuses on early stage investments across the following sectors - Consumer Internet, Enterprise SaaS, Healthcare Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech and Industrial IoT.

Axilor Ventures

3one4 Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Bangalore, India. The firm works in select market categories and in the intersection of adjacencies that are large, growing, and ready for unique products and services. The themes pursued are SaaS, Enterprise & SMB Automation, Fintech, Consumer Internet, and Digital Health, with a focus on areas such as machine-driven actionable intelligence services, digital media, ambient intelligence technologies, logistics and distribution, and climate tech. Through a deep involvement strategy, the firm works with founding teams and subject-matter experts to prioritize and strategize for product-market fit, and then optimize for defensibility and growth in revenue and impact. With a focus on margins and on delivering uncompromised end-user experiences, the firm aims to reduce risk, detect new growth opportunities, and return rewarding outcomes to all the stakeholders involved. 3one4’s investments are biased towards companies exploiting technology to create, grow, or dominate large markets in India. The firm also invests a portion of its capital in US-focused companies that have feedforward effects into the themes being pursued in India. 3one4 manages a corpus of INR 3,710 Cr+ (USD 510M+), AUM of INR 6,000Cr+ (USD 750M+), and a portfolio of over 80 companies across the early stage. 3one4's investments include Licious, Darwinbox, Open, BetterPlace, Jupiter, KukuFM, Koo, Dozee, and Tracxn.

3one4 Capital

# Hashed: To empower networks and innovators in building the decentralized future. Hashed, based in San Francisco and Seoul, is the largest crypto assets fund and community builder in South Korea. The team was founded by serial entrepreneurs, company operators, and systems engineers, who are passionate about enabling the global adoption of blockchain through education, acceleration and impact investments. Hashed operates Hashed Lounge--a premier blockchain meetup group; Hashed Post--a cryptocurrency blog interviewing founders and thought leaders; and Hashed Night--a world-class conference, events, and networking brand.  The team is actively working towards a definition of what it means to be a fundamental technology and founder-focused investment startup in the blockchain ecosystem.

Hashed

Hiro Capital is a Luxembourg / London technology Venture Capital fund which invests in European and UK innovators in Games, Esports and Digital Sports. Hiro Capital generally invests at the post-seed Series A and B stages. We invest both in front-end Content creators in Games, Esports and Digital Sports and in deep tech sector-specific applications of Cloud, Mobile, Streaming, Big Data, AI, Wearables, AR and VR technologies.

Hiro Capital

Sukna ventures is a venture studio and fund based in Saudi Arabia.

Sukna Ventures

Kube VC is a global venture capital firm that invests in exceptional founders and category-defining companies.

Kube VC

Catamaran is a catalyst for creating innovative enterprises in India. We manage over $1 billion across asset classes. Through our VC/PE portfolio, we invest in bold ideas from passionate entrepreneurs and work with them across stages to build successful enterprises. Through our strategic partnerships portfolio, we work with respected global Fortune 500 corporations to create enduring enterprises in India. Drawing on the principles of Mr. Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys (NYSE: INFY) and of Catamaran, our portfolios reflect companies with not just great ambition, but with the integrity and grit needed to transform bold ideas into successful enterprises.

Catamaran

Korea Investment Partners (KIP) is a leading venture capital & private equity firm that has over 30 years of experience in providing venture capital to bold and innovative entrepreneurs who want to change the world. Korea Investment Partners invests in leading pioneers like Kakao(KOSDAQ:035720), Naver(KRX:035420), YG Entertainment(KOSDAQ:122870), Bodyfriend, Osstem Implant(KOSDAQ:048260),  Doubleu Games(KOSDAQ:192080) and Didi Chuxing. KIP manages over 20 venture and private equity funds with US$1.8 billion in total assets under management. The company operates globally from its Seoul headquarters office with other locations in Shanghai, Beijing, and Sunnyvale.

Korea Investment Partners

NuVentures is an early stage venture fund based out of Bangalore, India founded by Venk Krishnan in 2015. They back tech-enabled startups by providing a quality mentorship ecosystem and financial capital. They invest in passionate entrepreneurs and teams with a drive to build globally scalable enterprises solving India-centric problems. Recent NuVentures investments include Acko, Coverfox, Daily Ninja, Geist, Pocket Aces, Scripbox, Vokal, TapChief, and Thrillophilia.

NuVentures

Makers Fund is a global interactive entertainment venture capital firm focused on early stage investments. The team supports founders through an extensive network and deep experience in the industry.

Makers Fund

CRIT Ventures is to invest in seed-stage, early-stage, and later-stage companies.

CRIT Ventures

Loco

Loco is an Indian game streaming platform. provides multiplayer social communities where gamers may connect with the public via live streams and arcade games, allowing them to demonstrate their abilities and earn playtime prizes.

India-based Loco offers a game streaming platform that enables users to watch and engage with gaming content across popular titles including BGMI, Free Fire, Call of Duty Mobile, Clash of Clans, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), and Valorant. The platform facilitates authentic connections between content creators and fans through live-streaming experiences. Loco has built communities around various game categories and collaborates with major publishers like Krafton, Activision, Ubisoft, and Riot Games. The platform employed 249 people as of September 2024.

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Esports

Redwood takes majority stake in India streaming startup Loco for $65m

Red Bull

Announced a partnership with Indian streaming platform Loco to create and broadcast esports content in the region. Both parties will work together to feature titles in various game categories.

Companies producing and broadcasting esports related content.

Loco is a leading independent esports and live game streaming platform in India, launched in 2020 by co-founders Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh. The platform allows users to watch and interact with streamers, support them with virtual goods, and participate in esports tournaments. As of May 2023, Loco had over 55 million registered users, with viewers spending an average of 50 minutes per day watching live content. The platform has experienced significant growth, with a 7x increase in daily active users, 3x growth in active streamers, and 47x growth in live watch hours since its inception.
Loco offers a range of features to enhance the gaming experience for both streamers and viewers. For streamers, the platform provides tools such as one-click streaming, a full-fledged studio, and analytics products. Viewers can access content across Android, iOS, and web platforms. Loco has also developed a proprietary data system that leverages information from the numerous tournaments it supports. In June 2022, Loco launched "Legends," an NFT platform for esports, allowing users to own and trade esports collectible assets and participate in fantasy gaming.
The platform has partnered with major game publishers, including Krafton, Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Ubisoft, and Garena, securing licensing agreements for popular games like BGMI, FreeFire, Call of Duty Mobile, and Valorant. In February 2023, Loco announced its collaboration with Avalanche to create next-generation fan experiences using blockchain technology, launching a custom Avalanche Subnet to support its Web3 initiatives.
Key customers and partnerships
Loco has established partnerships with some of the most popular esports teams in India, including 8bit, s0ul, Godlike, Revenant, Blind, and XO. The platform has also collaborated with major esports tournament organizers such as Villager Esports and Upthrust Esports. In addition, Loco has partnered with global brands like Red Bull, Logitech, and the NBA to organize esports programs focused on India.
In September 2022, Loco hosted the Battleground Mobile India Series (BGIS), which became the most-watched esports tournament in Indian history, garnering nearly 100 million views. The platform has supported and streamed more than 90% of third-party esports tournaments in the country as of May 2023.

India-based Loco offers a game streaming platform that enables users to watch and engage with gaming content across popular titles including BGMI, Free Fire, Call of Duty Mobile, Clash of Clans, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), and Valorant. The platform facilitates authentic connections between content creators and fans through live-streaming experiences. Loco has built communities around various game categories and collaborates with major publishers like Krafton, Activision, Ubisoft, and Riot Games. The platform employed 249 people as of September 2024.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34252">September 2024</a>, Loco sold its majority stake to UAE-based Redwood, a newly formed investment firm, as part of its international expansion strategy.&nbsp;&nbsp;While the platform is free to stream on, Loco offers a VIP loyalty program starting at INR 20 (~ USD 0.25), which includes ad-free viewing, event invites, store discounts, and other perks. The company noted that it recorded&nbsp;<a href="https://digitalterminal.in/gaming/loco-launches-vip-loyalty-program-for-its-paying-users">up to</a> 50% more watch hours and 10x more transactions from streamers in the VIP program.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of&nbsp;<a href="https://venturebeat.com/games/loco-hits-stride-in-game-livestreaming-as-indian-market-comes-back/">September 2023</a>, the platform had 60 million registered users who watched 20 million monthly hours on its platform. Additionally, its platform had 600,000 creators, with the average time spent watching live content on the app being 60 minutes a day.Loco has established partnerships with leading game publishers including Krafton, Activision, Ubisoft, and Riot Games. The platform also maintains content partnerships with sports organizations like the NBA and FIFAe for streaming rights.

Stakester is a platform for gamers to compete against one another for cash prizes. The platform was launched in May 2020 and is currently available in 38 US states, the UK, and Singapore. As of November 2020, the platform has more than 15,000 users. Stakester has also established partnerships with ESL (Electronic Sports League) and GameByte (competitive gaming community).Stakester’s management includes Gary J. Foreman (co-founder of Rockstar Games) and Alan Patmore (former EVP and GM at Humble Bundle, GM of Mafia Wars and CityVille at Zynga), who joined as a strategic advisor and board member in June 2020.In November 2020, the company raised USD 2.7 million in seed funding led by RTP Global with participation from angel investors Jens Lapinski (CEO of Angel Invest and former MD of Techstars) and Chris Adelsbach (founding partner at Outrun Ventures and venture partner at Techstars). The funds will be used to grow its community by increasing the value of prizes on the platform. In addition, the company plans to expand its platform to Australia and Germany in the near future.

Stakester

Peru-based ESGPlay operates an esports platform that creates competitive esports tournaments.

ESGPlay

eMasters is a Brazilian esports platform that facilitates the creation of esports competitions with cash prizes. The platform supports games including League of Legends, Dota 2, and FIFA 19.

eMasters

Gaming Frog is a console based online esports tournament platform. The platform offers single player and multiplayer competitive matchups for cash prizes in FIFA.The platform officially launched in August 2019 and since has seen over 1,500 matches being played on the platform.Since launch, the platform claims to have attracted 3,500 users. The company has raised USD 150,000 from friends and family and is in the process of raising a USD 400,000 seed round. The company outlined plans to launch on Android, expand its development team, integrate artificial intelligence (AI), introduce a membership model and bring in NBA and Madden games into the platform.

Gaming Frog

NAG Studios is a Swedish startup focused on creating esports games and platforms. It was founded by esports and gaming industry veterans Peter Stahl (former head of development at Resolution Games, a game studio focused on augmented and virtual reality) and Johan Skott (former esports product owner at Tobii Tech, a unit of technology company Tobii AB). NAG’s vision entails building an esports game and platform which will incorporate the community (i.e., professional players, streamers, broadcasters, and viewers) from the beginning of the development process.The company raised USD 1 million in an extended pre-seed funding round led by London Venture Partners in October 2020. The company aims to use the funds to build its development team.

NAG Studios

Companies facilitating communication among esports players or between players and esports communities during gameplay.

Companies operating esports arenas and providing technical expertise for hosting and broadcasting competitive leagues and tournaments. 

Companies facilitating competitive online and in-person esports tournaments.

Companies recruiting players to form professional teams and rosters for esports tournaments and leagues.

Companies developing esports related titles.

Commonly used in the tournament platforms segment to match players of equal skill

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 Redwood has purchased a majority stake in Loco, an Indian game streaming platform, for USD 65 million. This investment has resulted in a complete exit for previous investors. Loco plans to use this investment to expand beyond India to markets where Twitch's presence is minimal. The platform allows gamers to stream a variety of games, including GTA V and Valorant.
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Loco

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