Google’s AI Futures Fund backs STAN with $8.5M to grow its India-first social gaming platform, combining creators, communities, and rewards.
Google has funded STAN, a social gaming platform in India that facilitates the interaction between gamers, creators, communities, and publishers.
Google’s investment is a component of an $8.5 million equity financing round, including investments from Japanese gaming giants Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square Enix, and Reazon Holdings.
Aptos Labs, King River Capital, and current investors General Catalyst and GFR Fund were also involved. Google participated in the round through its AI Futures Fund, which was established in May to assist entrepreneurs developing with its AI tools.
STAN, a gaming community platform based in Singapore, is attempting to establish itself as a competitor to Discord. However, its market strategy is significantly distinct.
STAN enables users to accumulate in-app currency known as “Gems” by winning games such as Krafton’s Battlegrounds Mobile India, Garena’s Free Fire Max, Minecraft, Call of Duty, or casual titles like Ludo and Snakes & Ladders.
The application also enables creators to establish conversation rooms known as Clubs, which are channels specifically designed for each game on the platform.
Although these Clubs are open to all, members must pay a social currency to access the “gaming experiences” the creators provide. These transactions generate a commission for the startup.
However, the in-app currency is the primary draw, as it can be redeemed for vouchers on various e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, PhonePe, and Flipkart.
Other methods for users to accumulate currency include referrals, daily rewards, and a spin-to-win wheel.
It seems that STAN’s monetization model is what distinguishes it: Users can receive rewards through interactions, in contrast to Discord, where chatting or participating in communities does not yield much, except for clout.
Nevertheless, STAN intends to observe Discord. The company asserts that it has amassed more than 25 million downloads on the Play Store and App Store combined and has approximately 5.5 million monthly active users.
“STAN is the preferred destination for gamers to socialize.” In an interview, Parth Chadha, co-founder and CEO of STAN, described the location as a “place where gamers come to make friends, play with each other, and talk to each other, with a fusion of social and gaming.”
Chadha attributes the platform’s success thus far to its capabilities. The startup initially required creators to contact the company’s staff to begin streaming.
However, last year, it expanded the platform to accommodate user-generated content, enabling anyone to go live.
The CEO stated that this change was instrumental in increasing engagement and downloads.
In addition, STAN cooperates with game publishers, studios, and developers, such as Krafton, Garena, and Roblox, who compensate the startup for connecting them with gamers and creators on the platform.
Chadha informed TechCrunch that the platform has attracted nearly 100 game publishers, studios, and developers in the past two quarters and integrates over 20 new members monthly.
“That is currently developing into a highly intriguing business segment,” he stated.
In the future, STAN intends to capitalize on Google’s support by employing AI to enhance moderation.
Chadha stated that AI currently manages 70% to 80% of STAN’s moderation. While a human moderation team oversees the remainder, the startup intends to diminish it by implementing artificial intelligence.
In addition, STAN intends to provide creators with AI-powered toolkits, which will enable them to generate avatars and memes, as well as tools for fast responses and conversation filtering.
“We and the Google team are collaborating to capitalize on and expand the business by utilizing a variety of intriguing plug-and-play models,” he stated.
STAN is not the initial Indian venture to receive support from Google’s AI Futures Fund. Toonsutra, a startup that employs artificial intelligence to facilitate an immersive comic-reading experience, is the recipient of this distinction.
Google affirmed to TechCrunch that it has invested over $5.5 billion in India to date, including in startups Toonsutra, STAN, Pixxel, and Adda247.
Even though STAN’s application is currently geo-restricted to India, the platform continues to receive 5% to 6% of its engagement from users outside of India. These users frequently access the platform using Indian phone numbers and accounts.
The venture intends to expand internationally over the next year, initially focusing on the Indian subcontinent and pursuing Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The CEO stated that the venture was profitable for a few months but ultimately decided to allocate funds to facilitate growth. He further noted that the organization aims to attain profitability by 2027.
Currently, the venture has a workforce of approximately 40 individuals, with fewer than 30 employed in product engineering.
STAN’s aggregate equity funding has now reached approximately $15 million as a result of this increase.
