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Loco App
Loco is a popular e-gaming app in India. It has undergone various changes to become what it is today. What started out as a trivia game show app is now a game streaming platform. Keep reading to find out about the history, founders, and funding of the app.
Company History and Future Plans
In November 2017, Loco was launched by Sushil Kumar, Chetan Dhembre, and Abhishek Madhavan. It was initially a trivia game show app named ‘Showtime.’ People could participate in live quizzes on the app to win cash.
The host asked ten questions to the players on various topics ranging from current affairs to technology and sports. Players had to choose the correct answer from the options given to them. Every player who answered all the questions correctly would win an equal share of the prize money at stake. Sometimes the prize money at stake was as high as Rs 7 lakhs.
Acquisition by Pocket Aces
In January 2018, the app was acquired by the digital media company ‘Pocket Aces.’ By the end of 2018, the user base of the app grew to an estimated 8.5 million. In August 2019, the Loco app became available in six different languages, including English, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.
By the end of 2019, the user base on the app expanded even further. A total of 14.2 million users were playing on the app. But in 2019, the e-gaming industry in India was dominated by mobile arcade games such as Freefire and Battlegrounds IP. Therefore, Loco became a game streaming platform in 2020.
Indian consumers became engrossed in online gaming due to the availability of affordable smartphones and inexpensive mobile internet plans. After 2019, more than 100 million users were playing mobile arcade games like Freefire and Battleground IP in India.
But no app enabled streamers and viewers to be on the same platform. Moreover, the Indian gaming community was also looking for something homegrown. After Loco transitioned into a game streaming app, it began attracting a huge number of young streamers.
Impact of Lockdown on Loco
During the lockdown, gaming increasingly became a sought-after form of entertainment. Several players preferred streaming themselves on live game streaming platforms. These two factors helped in spurring Loco’s growth with a hike in monthly active users. While the number of active viewers on the app increased six times, the number of streamers increased by ten times. The total number of users on the Loco app was 22.3 million by the end of 2020.
Founders of Loco
Loco, India’s top game streaming platform, was co-founded by Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh.
Anirudh Pandita
Before Loco, Anirudh founded Pocket Aces, India’s largest digital media entertainment company. He is also a board member of Pocket Aces. The popular brands under the content distribution network include Dice Media, FilterCopy, and Gobble.
Anirudh was featured on the 40 under 40 lists by Fortune for the second time in 2021. He found a spot on the list for the first time in 2019. His name has appeared on various other prestigious lists, including the CNBC Young Turks, 40 Under 40 Entrepreneurs by IMPACT, 40 Under 40 by BWDisrupt.
In 2018, he won the Digital Entrepreneur of the Year at Talentack Awards. Anirudh student Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He also holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ashwin Suresh
The other co-founder of Loco is also a founder and board member of Pocket Aces. Ashwin’s name featured in prestigious lists like Fortune’s 40 Under 40, Social Samosa 40 Under 40, and BWDisrupt 40 Under 40. Before Pocket Aces and Loco, Ashwin was working as the Creative Head of Junglee Pictures. Ashwin completed his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois. He also holds a Diploma in Filmmaking from the New York Film Academy.
Funding
In June 2021, Loco earned funding of $9 million. The funding was led by Krafton and Lumikai. While Krafton is a South Korean gaming firm, Lumikai is the first gaming and interactive media fund in India. Some other companies that participated in the funding include Hashed, Axilor Ventures, 3one4 Capital, and North Base Media. The funding helped Loco to focus on innovations in game streaming technology and gaming content. It also helped Loco to become an independent entity from its parent company, Pocket Aces.
In March 2022, Loco raised around $42 million in another round of funding, which can help in building the future of entertainment. The funding was led by Hashed and other companies like Catamaran Ventures, Makers Fund, and Korea Investment Partners. Hiro Capital, Lumikai, and Krafton were also part of the funding round. The funding will help Loco focus on technology development in areas such as the blockchain network and Web 3.0.
According to founder Ashwin Suresh, the funding will allow the platform to work closely with streamers and content creators. The company will also work alongside organizations focused on making new gaming content and tournaments. The funding has also influenced the company to build in-game integrations with international partners.
Loco has teamed up with global brands like Red Bull, Logitech, and the NBA. The platform will organize esports programs focused on India alongside these global brands. After the 2021 funding, the company built a direct API integration that enabled the company to reimagine online gaming.
Celebrity Collaboration
Loco did not engage in any celebrity collaboration to date. The popularity of the platform can be attributed to the leading streamers on the app, such as 8bitThug. Some other popular streamers on the Loco app include Ankkita, Godlike’s Jonathan, Mavi, and ScOut. Gamers are able to find their own gaming clan on the platform.
Ending Note
Loco is a major platform for a community of gamers within the age group of 10 to 30 years. With new innovations, the user base of the app will only increase. Hopefully, Loco will be able to dominate the gaming industry in India in the upcoming years.
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