Rooter, a game streaming and e-sports platform, said Thursday it has secured $16 million (Rs 131 crore) in a growth funding round led by existing investor Lightbox.
The round also saw participation from Trifecta Capital, Pivot Ventures, Baldota Family Office, Global Play Media, Denlow Private Trust, Venture Catalysts, and Potential Ventures.
Existing investors Duane Park Ventures, LeAD Sports & Health Tech Partners, ADvantage VC, Goal Ventures, Capital A and Astarc Ventures pitched in, too.
The funding round was a mix of debt and equity capital. However, Rooter didn’t disclose the exact split.
The announcement comes more than a year after it secured $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightbox, March Gaming, and Duane Park Ventures. The company has raised $46 million in funding to date.
The New Delhi-based startup plans to deploy the fresh capital to develop its technology stack and expand its presence across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA).
Founded in 2016 by Piyush Kumar and Dipesh Aggarwal, Rooter's content library includes a mix of live streams, short-form content, and videos across 10 Indian languages. It claims to have achieved 4x growth to $7 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) at an 80% gross margin. It aims to achieve profitability within a year.
“We are expecting to cross $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by the next quarter and hit profitability by April 2024. Our current fundraise will allow us to develop our technology framework and pursue organic and inorganic growth opportunities,” said Kumar, founder and chief executive officer, Rooter.
The startup claims to have onboarded one million gaming creators on its platform and has a user base of 60 million users.
Sid Talwar, partner at Lightbox, added “Rooter has been able to establish scale while maintaining a healthy balance sheet and strong unit economics.”
Lightbox, which has backed startups such as Rebel Foods, Dunzo and Paymate, in an interaction with VCCircle informed about its plan to delay the launch of its fourth fund as it aims to focus on exits from its first two funds, over the next few months.
It is currently investing out of its $200 million third fund, launched in 2018 and has invested in nine companies so far.
