shotcall Raises $2.2M to Connect Fans with Streamers

The gaming industry has experienced significant expansion due to the recent pandemic, building upon existing growth fueled by esports and live streaming platforms like Twitch. Consequently, numerous startups, both large and small, are entering this dynamic market seeking opportunities.

Shotcall is one such venture, established by Thomas Gentle, Gordon Li, and Riley Auten. Their focus is on enhancing viewer engagement for streamers by providing fans with a highly desired opportunity: the ability to play games directly with their preferred content creators.

The company has announced the completion of a $2.2 million seed funding round, spearheaded by Initial Capital, New Stack, and Lerer Hippeau.

Currently, viewers of Twitch streams have limited avenues for interacting with streamers, primarily through channel subscriptions or the use of “bits,” Twitch’s internal virtual currency. While streamers with smaller audiences often maintain close engagement with their chat, this becomes increasingly difficult as their viewership expands, making it harder for individual viewers to be noticed.

Even when a viewer does receive recognition, it typically consists of a brief acknowledgment and a reading of their message. Some streamers organize gaming sessions for their subscribers, but these can be time-consuming to arrange and difficult to monetize effectively.

Shotcall enables streamers to connect with their fans in a way that fosters genuine interaction and simultaneously generates valuable, shareable content.

The platform empowers streamers to create tournaments, coaching sessions, Q&A events, charity streams, or other types of interactive experiences, with fans paying to participate. Shotcall manages these community events, allowing the streamer to define the duration of each session, the participation fee, and the rules of engagement, including microphone usage and content restrictions.

“Fans are central to the entire economic structure of gaming,” Gentle explained. “They determine which games are purchased and which content creators gain prominence. They provide the financial support for everything. Yet, their level of interaction is limited. Data indicates a strong desire and willingness among fans to spend more for meaningful engagement.”

The revenue distribution between the streamer and Shotcall varies depending on the event type and the streamer’s partnership status, but Shotcall’s maximum share is 25%.

The company is currently developing direct integrations with both Twitch and Discord, utilizing bots to streamline the user experience.

To date, Shotcall has attracted approximately 350 active hosts, and over 4,500 fans have utilized the platform within the last two months.