Esports gaming platform Gamerji raises $1.1M in a pre-Series A round

Ahmedabad-based esports gaming platform Gamerji today announced it has raised $1.1 million (about Rs 8.5 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures with participation from Stadia Ventures, Urmin Group family office, and existing investors.

Founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneur Soham Thacker, GamerJi's online esports platform allows users to play tournaments of their favorite games, host matches, communicate, share content, and win prizes.

According to the statement, Gamerji will utilize the raised funding towards enhancing the tournament organization technology, build social features for the gamers & and expand to MENA and Southeast Asia.

The platform claims to serve 2.3 million members from India and has conducted more than 29,000 tournaments till date. Since the seed round in Dec 2020, Gamerji has increased its user base by 3X and is conducting more than 200 tournaments every day for more than 15 titles, it said.

"In the past 12 months, we have added 1.7 Million users, conducted 21k+ tournaments, launched tournaments IPs in Gamerji Community Challenge & College Gaming league," Valay Patel, CTO, Gamerji said.

He further said the fresh funds will be used to improve product experience with innovations in technology and upgrade the infrastructure to serve the next set of 7 to 8 million users along with expanding the platform to other strategic territories.

The startup in a statement said the increasing number of young video gamers view competitive gaming as a career opportunity, rather than just a recreational activity.

“At Gamerji, we strive to provide gamers with a platform to begin their Esports journey by participating in daily competitive tournaments, building their stats & stand a chance to make a mark in the gaming world. Esports is still at a very early stage in India and there is a lot of talent that needs to be explored," Soham Thacker, Founder & CEO, Gamerji.

Today, gamers need platforms that can provide them with competitive exposure to help in their Esports journey and hone their skills. Gamerji believes in bridging the gap between amateur to professional level gamers through their tournaments, it adds.

In addition, It plans to be the first step for all aspiring gamers to start their esports journey by organizing tournaments and plans to gain more than 5 Million users from India, while also expanding its tournament services in MENA & SEA in 2022.

"Gamerji intends to be a platform of choice where gamers can showcase their skills, build their stats & grow the community. We are glad to receive constant support from Unicorn India Ventures along with our other investors," he adds.

Speaking on the investment, Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said: “The gaming industry in India is finally coming of age as the government is setting up the AVGC hub in Bangalore and against the backdrop of metaverse and Web 3.0. ESports is growing the fastest within the overall gaming market. Gamerji has demonstrated this thesis well given their growth numbers. We continue to share the vision of the company and back them as they look to expand to other international geographies.”

As per a recent report by the All India Gaming Federation in 2020, there were 365 million online gamers in the country, with the number expected to rise to 510 million by 2022, with a corresponding growth of women gamers. GamerJi addresses aspiring gamers in India to provide them with evolving gaming possibilities and aims to position India as a global leader in esports.

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