Courtside Ventures & Griffin Gaming Partners lead the funding round for the Live Entertainment app, Eloelo.
Eloelo, India’s leading live entertainment and social gaming platform, announced raising $22 Million in its Pre-Series B round. The round was jointly led by Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners, joined by MIXI Inc along with existing backers Waterbridge Ventures, Lumikai Fund, Kalaari Capital, Convivialite Ventures and Rocket Capital investing in the round.
With this fresh funding, Eloelo has now raised a total of $37.5 million. The funds from this round will be utilized to forge partnerships with creators, develop innovative tools across AI & AR for them, attract a broader pool of tech and product talent, and strengthen revenue generation and monetisation initiatives. The round comes 14 months after its Series A round of $13 million in June 2022.
“Courtside is thrilled to co-lead the investment in Eloelo alongside Griffin Gaming Partners” said Kai Bond, Partner at Courtside Ventures. “Eloelo is pioneering a new form of entertainment in India. Through a unique combination of game participation within live streaming, they are building the next generation of social networking that enables true interactivity within their community”.
Eloelo, ranks among the Top 3 apps in India on the Google Play Store in Entertainment, combining audio and video live chatrooms with interactive games and shows that enable millions of users and creators to connect with each other. The platform has over 37 Million users and 120K creators.
Saurabh Pandey, CEO & Founder of Eloelo said, “Eloelo wants to be a “party in your pocket”, where users are not just watching a livestream but are part of the experience. Social Media is supposed to help you belong but most alternatives let you consume content solitarily. We are pioneering a new category of Live Social Entertainment– almost like a ‘Digital Third Place’ where young Indians are always connected. Our growth of 400% Y-o-Y showcases the love users have given the product. This fundraise in such a testing macro environment further enforces the belief our investors have in our vision”.
Eloelo is leading with a unique blend of Live Entertainment with Games & Communities — a contemporary social network tailored to the communication preferences of young Indians. The company’s primary distinguishing features include its ability to get users to simply push-t0-talk inside various chat rooms, in-house games integrated into live streams and its focus on clean entertainment for family audiences.
“At Griffin, we’re inspired by India’s rapidly evolving market landscape, led by innovative companies like Eloelo. Through the magic of gamification, Eloelo is transforming livestreams into captivating experiences that translate to deep audience engagement. The platform has attracted a vast community of content creators, driving its growth to nearly 40 million users — a striking testament to the potential ahead for Eloelo”, said Nick Tuosto, Managing Director & Co-Founder of Griffin Gaming Partners.
A CYG report estimates the global live-streaming market at $46 billion, with India’s current share at $2 billion. Eloelo is steadily launching various ways for creators to generate revenue, including gifting inside chatrooms, participation in group audio calls, and hosting game shows.
“As EloElo’s first VC partner, we are impressed with their scale and evolution from a live gaming app to a platform bringing audiences together in multiple live formats. Its immersive, engaging, product-led approach has made it the go to app for audiences and creators alike. With this funding, Eloelo is set to further establish themselves as the preferred digital destination for India’s social and entertainment needs”, said Anjali Sosale, Partner at Waterbridge Ventures.
Salone Sehgal, Founding General Partner at Lumikai Fund said, “Saurabh and Team Eloelo’s bold vision to design a truly India-first, participatory social entertainment platform, is disrupting existing entertainment mediums like TV. Eloelo’s category leading interactive formats have transcended gender, age and language barriers to become a true digital destination.”
The App is live in 6 languages and aims to add many more in the next few months seeing the adoption from Tier 2, 3 audiences. It uses a blend of AI and manual content moderation to maintain a secure environment for all users.
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