Esports fan engagement startup STAN raises $2.5 mn

BENGALURU: Bengaluru-headquartered blockchain-based esports fan engagement startup STAN has raised an equity funding of $2.5 million in its seed round.The round was led by venture capital firm General Catalyst, alongside other VCs including Better Capital and Eximius Ventures.

It also saw participation from multiple superangels such as Aadil Mamujee from Opensea, and Nakul Gupta from Coinbase. “The amount raised in this round will be utilised by STAN to provide unparalleled, best-inclass experiences to today’s gaming and esports fans worldwide by launching its flagship platform, as well as to extensively partner with a plethora of top gaming organisations and players across India and other countries in parallel,” the startup said on Wednesday. STAN said it has built a one-stop platform for the constantly growing pool of esports fans in India and the world to optimally engage, play and grow closer to their idols in the gaming and esports space using digital collectibles and/ or mutable NFTs.

Meanwhile, Direct-to-consumer men’s innerwear brand Almo on Wednesday said it has raised $ 2 million ( over ₹ 15 crore) in pre-Series A round funding led by Inflection Point Ventures. The funding round also saw the participation of other investors, including LetsVenture and AngelList India, the startup said in a statement.

Almo said it intends to bolster its branding and marketing efforts along with setting up its R&D lab to continue innovating on sustainable product lines. Almo said it aims to cross ₹100 crore revenue by year-end and it also plans to strengthen its over 30-people team with “strategic hirings across key areas to lay the foundation for the long term scale-up opportunities”.

STAN SAID IT HAS BUILT A ONE-STOP PLATFORM FOR THE CONSTANTLY GROWING POOL OF ESPORTS FANS IN INDIA