Google Invests in STAN: Indian Social Gaming Platform

Google Invests in STAN, an Indian Social Gaming Platform

Google has provided backing to STAN, a social gaming platform originating in India. This platform is designed to connect gamers with content creators, thriving communities, and game publishers.

Funding Details

The investment from Google is part of an $8.5 million equity funding round. Significant participation also came from prominent Japanese gaming companies, including Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square Enix, and Reazon Holdings.

Aptos Labs and King River Capital, alongside existing investors General Catalyst, T-Accelerate Capital, and GFR Fund, contributed to the round. Google’s involvement was facilitated through its AI Futures Fund, launched in May to support startups utilizing its artificial intelligence tools.

STAN’s Unique Approach

Headquartered in Singapore, STAN is positioning itself as a competitor to Discord within the gaming community space. However, its methodology differs considerably.

STAN allows users to accumulate in-app currency, known as “Gems,” by achieving success in popular games such as Krafton’s Battlegrounds Mobile India, Garena’s Free Fire Max, Minecraft, Call of Duty, and even casual games like Ludo and Snakes & Ladders.

Creator-Focused Features

The platform enables creators to establish chat rooms, termed “Clubs,” which are specifically tailored to individual games available on STAN. Access to the “gaming experiences” offered by creators within these Clubs requires a payment of social currency.

The startup generates revenue by taking a commission from these transactions.

Incentivized Engagement and Monetization

A key draw for users is the redeemability of the in-app currency for vouchers on major e-commerce platforms like Amazon, PhonePe, and Flipkart. Additional earning opportunities include referrals, a spin-to-win feature, and daily rewards.

STAN’s monetization strategy distinguishes it from platforms like Discord, where community participation and chatting typically don’t yield direct rewards for users beyond social recognition.

Growth and User Base

Despite aiming to emulate Discord’s community aspects, STAN reports significant growth. The company claims to have surpassed 25 million downloads across the Play Store and App Store, with approximately 5.5 million monthly active users.

Vision and Platform Evolution

“STAN serves as the central hub for gamers, fostering connections, facilitating gameplay, and enabling communication – a blend of social interaction and gaming,” stated Parth Chadha, co-founder and CEO of STAN.

Chadha attributes the platform’s success to its evolving features. The introduction of user-generated content, allowing anyone to stream live, significantly boosted both downloads and user engagement.

Partnerships with Game Publishers

STAN collaborates with game publishers, studios, and developers, including Krafton, Garena, and Roblox. These partners compensate STAN to connect with gamers and creators on the platform.

Over the past two quarters, nearly 100 such partners have joined STAN, with the company onboarding more than 20 each month, according to Chadha.

“This is rapidly becoming a substantial revenue stream,” he noted.

Leveraging AI for Improvement

STAN intends to utilize Google’s investment to enhance its moderation capabilities through the implementation of AI. Currently, 70% to 80% of moderation is already automated using AI.

The startup plans to further reduce reliance on human moderators by expanding the use of AI-driven tools.

AI-Powered Tools for Creators

STAN also aims to provide creators with AI-powered toolkits. These will include features for generating avatars and memes, as well as tools for quick replies and chat filtering.

“We are collaborating with the Google team to leverage and scale numerous interesting plug-and-play models,” Chadha explained.

Google’s AI Futures Fund Investments

STAN is not the first Indian startup to receive funding from Google’s AI Futures Fund; Toonsutra, a company utilizing AI for immersive comic experiences, was the first.

To date, Google has invested over $5.5 billion in India, supporting startups such as Toonsutra, STAN, Pixxel, and Adda247.

Expansion Plans and Future Outlook

Although currently limited to India, STAN experiences 5% to 6% of its engagement from international users accessing the platform via Indian phone numbers and accounts. The startup plans to expand internationally, beginning with the Indian subcontinent, followed by Southeast Asia and Latin America.

While briefly profitable, STAN opted to reinvest in scaling its operations and aims to achieve sustained profitability by 2027.

The company currently employs approximately 40 individuals, with less than 30 dedicated to product engineering.

This funding round brings STAN’s total equity funding to around $15 million.