Digital entertainment startup Pocket Aces Pictures Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs 100 crore (about $14.5 million at current exchange rate) from Sequoia Capital India, DSP Group and 3one4 Capital, among others.
In an interaction with VCCircle, Pocket Aces co-founders Anirudh Pandita and Aditi Shrivastava said the funding represents the company’s Series B round. The startup had previously raised Rs 20 crore (around $3 million then) from Sequoia and other investors including 3one4 and TV Mohandas Pai-led Aarin Capital in December 2016. Through the latest funding, DSP Group comes in as a new investor.
Pandita said the company will use the funding to invest in content, aiming to increase its library of intellectual properties. It will also invest in its technological infrastructure and will hire talent to strengthen teams across verticals.
Shrivastava added that the company will also invest in marketing and growth.
Pocket Aces was founded by Pandita, Shrivastava and Ashwin Suresh in 2013. Pandita studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Pandita has worked at firms such as Goldman Sachs.
Shrivastava, a Princeton University graduate, has also worked with Goldman Sachs and has helped set up Intellecap Impact Investment Network, an angel network investing in for-profit social enterprises.
Suresh is a graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has worked at Junglee Pictures as well as Reliance Entertainment.
Pocket Aces conceptualises, creates and distributes written and video content including web series through its social media and online channels – Dice Media, FilterCopy and Gobble. It also recently launched Loco, a live game show which the company says has been played by more than 500,000 persons. Pandita said the company will continue to invest in Loco and is aiming to significantly expand the brand’s user base.
Competitors of Pocket Aces’ brands include over-the-top (OTT) platform The Viral Fever and mobile e-sports platform Mobile Premier League.
