India's Blockchain E-Sports Firm 'STAN' Raises $2.5 Million in Seed Funding

An equity funding of $2.5 million (roughly Rs. 20 crore) has been bagged by Bengaluru city-based blockchain startup called ‘STAN'. Super angel investors such as Aadil Mamujee from OpenSea and Nakul Gupta from Coinbase participated in this seed round. While US' General Catalyst investment firm led the funding round, other venture capital firms including Better Capital and Eximius Ventures also granted funding to STAN. The platform allows fans of various sports to collect, play, and engage with esports and gaming-related collectibles while earning rewards.

Tapping into the Web3 economy, STAN is among India's many crypto startups that is working to widen Web3 adoption in the country.

The Polygon blockchain-based fan engagement platform enables user via gamified loopable layers on the platform. The services are also accessible to non-crypto native users through abstraction, low gas fees, and fast processing of transactions.

The company aims to use the fresh funding for the upcoming launch of its flagship platform.

“The two consumer spaces that have been among the fastest growing in India in terms of level of innovation, creator energy and mainstream adoption are esports and Web3/non-fungible tokens (NFTs),” said Parth Chadha, Co-Founder of STAN in a press release. “This combination has led to a powerful flywheel for product platforms that unlock innovative engagement and business models for esports players and creators.”

The STAN platform ensures that purchase of NFT-backed assets occurs via traditional in-game currency bought through a normal in-app purchase flow. This essentially means that any gaming fan would be able to purchase on-chain items through Apple App Store or Google Playstore using normal fiat currency.

“With initiatives like this, the long-term goal of STAN is to make it easier for every gaming enthusiast, including mainstream consumers, to participate in the blockchain and Web3 economy,” the company said.

The Indian blockchain firm is looking to forge partnerships in the esports and Web3 arenas as part of its future plans.

Despite India's uncertain stance on the crypto sector, several startups have cropped up in the sector in recent times.

As per research firm Tracxn, India has around 380 crypto and 12 NFT start-ups currently operating in the country.

Meanwhile, there has also been a major buzz surrounding the future of blockchain gaming in recent times.

The blockchain gaming industry grew by 765 percent in 2021, a Forbes report claimed in January this year.

A DappRadar report had recently said that a whopping 804,000 unique active players connected to blockchain-based games in July 2021.

Along with startups, even established gaming firms are now giving their offerings a Web3 twist.

In April, PUBG developer Krafton struck a deal with Solana Labs, stirring up rumours about its potential plans to add crypto and NFT elements to its games.

Capital keeps flowing into the Web3 space on a global level.

In 2021 alone, crypto-related firms collectively raised more than $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,27,617 crore) from venture capital firms, making it the highest collection so far. In 2018, the same number was $8 billion (roughly Rs. 60,704 crore).

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