Playtoome, an online platform that lets users live-stream concerts and performances, has raised Rs 2 crore (around $2,82,000) in pre-Series A funding from a group of angel investors. The deal was facilitated by early-stage investment platform and incubator Venture Catalysts.
According to a statement, the lead investors included Patni family scion Arihant Patni, Housejoy’s chief technology officer Bhaskar Raju Konduru, Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust chairman Goverdhan Singh Jamwal and Apollo Hospitals group chief financial officer Akhileshwaran Krishnan.
Founded by S Keerthivasan in 2016, Playtoome allows users to connect with artistes and watch them perform live via their devices. It also lets users chat and interact directly with artistes and musicians in real-time.
For artistes, Playtoome is a platform to build a dedicated fan base and earn additional income during their live performances. The startup claims to host one live concert a day on average, with 200 shows hosted so far, and has brought on board more than 3,500 artistes. The company also claims to have a customer base of over 50,000 fans.
“This association [with Venture Catalysts] provides us with the capital infusion necessary to scale our operations to 100 shows a month,” Keerthivasan said.
Playtoome had earlier raised seed funding of Rs 1.5 crore from Newport Holdings LLP, an angel investment firm started by Rangarajan Narayanan, co- founder of EXILANT Technologies.
There had also been participation from high net-worth individuals (HNIs) including Ramesh Sundaresan, president and global head-commodity financial services Group at OLAM international and Deb Dasgupta, global alliance director at Red Hat New York.
“The online live entertainment domain in India is growing at a rapid pace and will be a multi-million dollar opportunity in the near future,” said Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, co-founder and president of Venture Catalysts.
Venture Catalysts
Mumbai-based Venture Catalysts was founded by Sharma, Anil Jain, Anuj Golecha and Gaurav Jain in December 2015. It typically invests between $250,000 and $1 million each in early-stage startups.
Earlier this week, Venture Catalysts facilitated a Rs 4.5 crore ($640,000) investment in sports engagement platform Rooter Sports Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Venture Catalysts' recent investments include virtual trial room startup Try & Buy Fashions, medical-technology startup iNICU, crowdfunding platform ImpactGuru, Uttar Pradesh-based online eyewear marketplace ClearDekho, Kolkata-based Ideal Insurance Brokers, and lingerie brand InnerSense.
