India’s Loco raises seed funding from PUBG brand owner, Krafton – Times of India

Loco, India’s leading homegrown game streaming platform, has secured $9 million for its first round of fundraising as an independent company. The seed round is led by South Korean gaming firm, Krafton, as well as Lumikai, India’s first gaming and interactive media fund. South Korean gaming company Krafton is the ownder of the PUBG mobile game. In India, PUBG Mobile licence was held by China’s Tencent Holdings when it was banned last year.
The round also saw participation by Hashed, Hiro Capital, North Base Media, Axilor Ventures, and 3one4 Capital. The new investment aims to fuel the platform’s efforts across game streaming technology and gaming content, helping it strengthen its position. Loco will be spun off into an independent entity from its parent, Pocket Aces, a digital entertainment company. Pocket Aces founders Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh will lead Loco going forward, while co-founder Aditi Shrivastava will continue to lead Pocket Aces.
Krafton recently launched PUBG in a new avatar — Battlegrounds Mobile India. It is a slightly tweaked version of PUBG India.
The ‘Made in India’ platform is home to India’s popular streamers such as Sc0ut, Jonathan, Mavi, Thug, Ghatak, Sumit, GTX Preet, Snax, Xyaa, GamingworldVerified, PsychoVerified, Pooja Gaming, HardCore Gamer, and me2Gaming. Loco has built communities across various games including FreeFire, Call of Duty Mobile, Clash of Clans, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), and Valorant. The platform houses India’s top esports teams like TSM, IND, 8-bit/Soul, and has hosted the country’s largest tournaments in partnership with global publishers like Activision, Ubisoft, and Riot Games. It is also in the process of building in-game integrations with international partners. In addition to these partnerships, Loco has also teamed up with likes of NBA, Logitech, and Red Bull to run India-focused esports programs.
Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh, Founders of Loco, said “Loco is at the forefront of the game streaming revolution in India. Our platform empowers novice gamers to become household names and has built the foundation for the rise of a new creator economy in India. We are just getting started on our mission to build the home of Indian gaming and we will work relentlessly to make India a global gaming superpower. With this investment, we have been joined on our mission by the pioneers of the global gaming industry. This will enable us to create value for users in ways that no other game streaming platform in India can.”
Sean Hyunil Sohn, Head of Corporate Development at KRAFTON, said “At KRAFTON, we believe gamers appetite is only increasing in consuming live video game content and Loco is best placed in India to provide a world class game streaming platform and it has built a passionate community around itself.” He added, “Krafton plans to keep investing heavily not just in gaming, but also tech, media, and other related areas to support and participate in the growth of these sectors in India.”