Indian game streaming platform Loco raises $42 million from Hashed, Makers Fund

techcrunch.com:

Indian game streaming startup Loco said on Thursday it has raised $42 million as it looks to build, per its conversations with investors, “Twitch for India.”

Hashed, Makers Fund, Catamaran Ventures, Krafton and Hiro Capital invested in the startup’s Series A financing, which gives the startup a pre-money valuation of about $145 million, according to two sources familiar with the matter. TechCrunch earlier reported about the deal. The startup has raised about $51 million to date.

Loco is attempting to build Twitch for India, the startup has told its investors. It has partnered with several game publishers including PUBG Corporation, Activision-Blizzard, Riot Games for licensing. On its app, users watch and interact with streamers and support them with virtual goods (read: micro-transactions).

It has amassed 5.3 million monthly active users, 450,000 of whom use the service each day, according to sources familiar with the matter. About 45,000 gamers stream on Loco, the sources said.

“YouTube offers a leading signal for this gaming content demand, but its product is not built for the game streaming market,” the startup says in its investor deck. Users on the platform were spending as much as 27 minutes each day, as of October 2021, Loco said in a slide.