BuyStars, an online gaming ecommerce platform announces a $5 million pre-series A round led by Lumikai, a gaming and interactive-focused VC Fund, Chiratae and Leo Capital. As per the company, the funding will be allocated towards investing in growth and launching new games on the platform. With the fresh funding, BuyStars has now raised $9 million in total till date, the company stated.
Expressing his views on the funding received, Aman Satija, CEO & co-founder, BuyStars said, “BuyStars was started with a mission to disrupt how cricket fans engage with games today. We are extremely pleased that our efforts are getting recognised. While funding is never a testament to a company’s success, however, when experienced investors decide to back a company, it’s definitely a great validation of the mission one started with and a tribute to the hard work of a team which came together to build it.”
Commenting on the investment, Salone Sehgal, founding general partner, Lumikai said, “Globally, the sports collectibles market is valued at $5.4B annually with sports cards trading growing at nearly 140% year-on-year in terms of volume. In India alone, skill based real money gaming and fantasy sports segment accounted for $1.5B of the $2.6B gaming industry in FY22, growing at a 25% 5-year CAGR. Aman and Sriram’s thesis around driving engagement and long-term retention via leveraging collectibles and trading cards for a fantasy focused audience base is deeply compelling. Product-led innovation in this segment is necessary to disrupt incumbents and unlock value. The team’s unique insights, deep expertise combined with current user traction already reveal early potential.”
Since its launch in 2021, BuyStars has collected 1.5M registered users and a monthly GMV north of $1 million, the company claims.