EsportsXO Raises Next Funding Round Led by SOSV’s Orbit Startups and SucSEED Indovation Fund

Bengaluru-based EsportsXO secures next tranche of strategic investment to fuel expansion and growth

EsportsXO, a frontrunner in the esports and gaming startup landscape in India, announces an undisclosed amount in its ongoing funding round. The funding round was led by renowned investors SOSV’s Orbit Startups and existing investors SucSEED Indovation Fund and Mumbai Angels, with participation from other strategic backers such as WeFounderCircle and Imperial Holdings. This investment signals a crucial milestone for the company’s ambitious plans for expansion and innovation.

EsportsXO, founded in 2020 by Vikas Goel, Utsav Umang, and Rohit Raj, stands out as a trailblazer in the rapidly evolving esports sector. The company’s commitment to providing cutting-edge online esports tournament management systems has garnered attention and support from investors and industry leaders.

Vikas Goel, CEO and Co-founder of EsportsXO, shared his vision for the company’s future, and said, “XO aims to become the largest game and player discovery platform for gamers. Game advertising is a $130 Bn market. With BattleXO, we are not just targeting gamers but also addressing the needs of game developers and tournament organisers, enabling them to leverage technology for scalable reach through data-driven campaigns. The infusion of capital will further empower us to tackle the next significant challenge – expanding our company in size and increasing our user base.”

Accelerated Growth and Operational Excellence

EsportsXO has demonstrated robust growth over the past 18 months, investing time and resources in platform development, cost optimisation, and refining unit metrics. This strategic approach has resulted in a positive EBITDA for the last quarter and continued growth in the current quarter, reinforcing the startup’s financial sustainability. The recently secured funding is poised to play a pivotal role in amplifying EsportsXO’s business development initiatives and accelerating overall growth.

Oscar Ramos, Managing General Partner at Orbit Startups and Venture Partner at SOSV, highlighted the booming esports market in India, and said, “The esports market in India is taking off, driven not only by a growing fan base and the professionalisation of competitive gamers but also by the involvement of both local and international brands. These brands recognise the importance of the industry for the consumers of the future. The EsportsXO platform is built from the bottom up, enhancing the experience and maximising value for every party in the ecosystem.”

Investor Confidence and Continued Success

Vikrant Varshney, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SucSEED Indovation Fund, expressed confidence in EsportsXO’s trajectory, and said, “EsportsXO is a SaaS-based platform to design, launch, and manage online esports tournaments by building a community for console, PC, and mobile gamers across the world on a unified platform. Since the time we funded them in the first round, EsportsXO has kept us impressed with their journey of growth. They have hosted 25,000+ tournaments, have 1000+ tournament organisers on their platform, generated over $4M lifetime revenue with less than $1.5M spend, and have distributed USD 100K+ in sponsored rewards. As the company prioritised growth, it has successfully generated value for stakeholders as well. We take immense pride in the notable expansion of our portfolio company.”

Vikas Goel added, “Just as technology has disrupted the healthcare, food, logistics, and commerce sectors, it is inevitable that gaming will undergo a similar transformation. EsportsXO is poised to lead this disruption from India, shaping the future of gaming.”

Founded by Vikas Goel, Utsav Umang, and Rohit Raj, EsportsXO is the sole company that adds comprehensive value to the entire gaming ecosystem, catering to the needs of gamers, game developers, and brands alike. The platform collaborates with game developers and brands to enhance visibility among the dynamic Gen Z gaming community through community-building and targeted advertising.

About EsportsXO

EsportsXO, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, has emerged as one of India's fastest-growing esports organisations since its establishment in 2020. EsportsXO has distinguished itself by providing cutting-edge online esports tournament management systems. Beyond its technological prowess, the organisation is home to a curated assembly of creators and athletes who collectively engage an audience surpassing a million, united by the common goal of cultivating the world's most extensive community of PC, mobile, and console gamers. To know more, visit www.battlexo.com.

Cybersecurity Startup WiJungle Raises Seed Funding at Valuation of $22 Mn From SOSV

The Unified Cyber Security Platform plans to allocate the acquired funds to enhance its technical capabilities and drive sales expansion. 

WiJungle- the world’s first Unified Cyber Security Platform, has recently raised its seed funding at a valuation of USD 22 Million from SOSV, a global venture capital firm based out of the United States that operates early-stage startup development programs. The company aims to leverage the capital to enhance technical capabilities and boost its sales expansion plans.

With the recent fund acquisition, Karmesh Gupta, Co-founder and CEO of WiJungle, said, “We decided to be a part of the SOSV program from the point of global scalability and the mentorship to co-work on our expansion plans. The cohort program proved to be an invaluable learning curve for us, starting from refinement in pitch and sales strategies to improvement in KPIs and growth plans. Indeed, SOSV has proved to be super founder-friendly and with this funding, we will be able to augment our technical capabilities, serve more customers across the globe and drive our sales strategies."

Incepted by Karmesh Gupta and Praveen Gupta, WiJungle currently enables organisations to secure and strengthen their entire network through a single window. The AI and ML-driven security platform offer a comprehensive security stack encompassing multiple standalone solutions like Network Firewall, Web Application Firewall, Hotspot Gateway, SD-WAN, Data Leakage Prevention and Vulnerability Assessment, among others. WiJungle’s AI-powered capability and unified single-window network management ability empower enterprises to streamline their cybersecurity operations cost-effectively.

WiJungle is currently serving the government and private giants across industry verticals like hospitality, healthcare, education, defence, transportation, retail, BFSI and ITES, among others. The company is also among the highest-rated vendors on Gartner in network security and caters to the cybersecurity needs of businesses across multiple countries.

To serve the needs of its growing customer base and accelerate growth and development, WiJungle has recently relocated its headquarters from Jaipur to Gurugram. Additionally, the company is also planning to strengthen its leadership team to achieve a strategic scale up and facilitate expansion plans.

"Cybersecurity in the age of hybrid work and cross-border collaboration is an existential issue for companies of all sizes. WiJungle impresses us with their unwavering commitment to technical excellence and customer happiness, and we can't hope for a better team to tackle this challenge at a global level," says Oscar Ramos, Partner at SOSV.

SOSV Leads Pre-Series A Funding Round in Live Video Commerce Platform KIKO TV

MUMBAI, India, Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- KIKO TV, a company that has built a solution for live streaming video commerce for the Indian market, has raised an undisclosed amount in its pre-Series A funding round led by the US venture capital fund SOSV and will be shortly graduating from their Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX) program. The funding round is open and a few more investors are expected to co-invest in this round. SOSV provides intellectual and financial capital to accelerate founders' big ideas and is among the world's most active and successful global investors, having delivered a net IRR over the last 20 years that puts them in the top 10% of all venture funds worldwide. 

KIKO TV plans to disrupt the mobile commerce space with live shopping and live interactions between sellers and buyers, taking the native shopping experience to the virtual mobile screen. Their unique AI technology also scans entertainment content and shows suggested products for purchase by scanning products and apparel in the video being watched.

The money will be used to accelerate the product roadmap and increase adoption. KIKO TV recently raised their seed round from 9Unicorns and this is their second raise.

"We are extremely elated to be part of the SOSV MOX family, as the MOX program provides not only funding but also a lot of training to scale the business and access to their global mentor network. As the speed of internet available on all devices grows, and as the widespread use of 5G technology is becoming inevitable, live video commerce will be the future of shopping. It is our vision to be a market leader in this category," says Shivam Varshney, Co-founder and CEO of KIKO TV.

"Live video is the logical evolution of e-commerce and shopping habits. There are enormous opportunities for mobile-first players, and we cannot think of a better team to work with than KIKO TV," says William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV, Managing Director of MOX.

Live commerce, after taking off in China and other Asian markets, it is growing quickly in America and the rest of the world (Bloomberg). KPMG and Alibaba expected the live streaming e-commerce market in China to exceed USD 150 billion in 2020, and India is following suit (CNA).

About KIKO TV

KIKO TV was founded in August 2020 and is among the first movers in the live-video commerce sector. India has close to 500 million internet users, of which less than 10% transact online. Traditional e-commerce lacks instant buyer-seller interaction and there are also trust issues when buying from an unknown online seller. Live video commerce solves these issues, and helps stores get virtual "walk-in" customers, not just from their nearby locations, but from across the country. It also helps content creators monetize their video content.

About SOSV

SOSV is a multi-stage venture capital investor. We run multiple world-class vertical accelerator programs and provide seed, venture and growth-stage follow-on investment into superstar companies. Our unique full-stack model has delivered a net IRR over the last 20 years that puts us in the top 10% of all venture funds worldwide.

SOSV provides intellectual and financial capital to accelerate founders' big ideas for positive change. SOSV has funded over 1000 startups to date. We currently fund over 150 startups per year through our programs: HAX (hardware and connected devices), IndieBio (life sciences), Chinaccelerator and MOX (cross-border internet and mobile in Asia), dlab (blockchain, data and decentralization), and Food-X (food innovation). 

Supply chain Automation Platform Supplynote Raises $600K from SOSV and others

Amidst Japan, Australia and India supply chain alliance talks, Supplynote raises USD 600K from US and Australia based VCs

Noida, October 21, 2020: Supplynote, a supply chain automation platform has raised 600K USD in a bridge round. The round has been led by the US-based multi-stage venture capital firm SOSV and Australia-based global VC firm Artesian Ventures. Existing investors SucSEED Ventures, CIO Angel Network, Venture Catalysts and angel investors Arjun Soni, Angad Soni and Sunny Vohra also participated in the round.

Supplynote works for both restaurants and suppliers and connect them seamlessly on its two-way SaaS platform. This allows end-to-end digitization of the procurement process
The funding will be utilized in business development activities and expansion pan India. A part of the funding will also be utilized in product development. The funds will be deployed in a phased manner given the current unprecedented times when the markets are uncertain across the globe.

Commenting on the fund-raising during the pandemic, Kushang, co-founder and CEO of Supplynote said, "We are delighted that we could raise fundsn even during the current difficult times when most of the industries are struggling including the restaurant industry which is the key target audience for our solution. Our solution will enable the restaurant outlets to fast-track their journey back to their regular business by helping them save money on their inventory and manage their supply chain better. The solution is more relevant to the clients now when they are struggling to return to normalcy."

"The restaurant industry, strong-armed by delivery platforms, is ripe for digitalization and disruption. Supplynote enables restaurants not only to increase profit by 70% but also to supercharge their supply chain efficiency. The solution by Supplynote has gained great traction in a very short span of time. And as things return to normalcy in the market post COVID19, we anticipate a surge in demand for this unique solution," said William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV, Managing Director of MOX - Mobile Only Accelerator.

"Technology continues to play the pivotal role for any industry today, in order to help businesses, get back to normalcy, as the world is coping with Covid-19. For the F&B industry specifically, Supplynote has created one of the best examples of Digital Transformation, showing how such an unorganised aspect of the F&B business can be solved with the use of Digital Technology. It's time for other industries to learn from such case studies, and identify opportunities for Digital Transformation within their respective domains. Congratulations to the founders for creating this example to be reckoned with," said Mr.Vikram Upadhyaya, Founder, GHV Accelerator.


"The idea to address a long prevailing challenge in the supply chain in restaurant industry is itself very unique in the market. In a very shot span of time the solution by Supplynote has caught the right attention. We see this solution getting accepted across the industry and becoming a 'must' for any restaurant business," said Mr. Vikrant Varshney, Managing Partner, SucSEED Ventures.

Supplynote plans to enable 2000 more restaurant outlets in India with its unique solution, by the end of the current fiscal year. With monthly transactions worth approximately USD 1.3 M managed on the platform, the startup anticipates a multifold growth in the coming times. It also aims at reaching USD 100M transaction volume run rate in the next 2 years. Adopting Supplynote solution has enabled restaurant outlets to reduce their operational cost by 8-10%. On average the solution can help a restaurant increase the profit margins by 70 percent.

About Supplynote

Incepted in 2019, Supplynote is a supply chain automation platform providing SAAS platform to restaurants. Established by the founders- Kushang-CEO, Abhishek Verma-COO, Nitin Prakash-CPO and Harshit Mittal-CTO, the company was started with an aim to provide end to end digitization of procurement process and automation steps like inventory management, ordering, payment ledger management and to solve the supplier/product discovery problems. Over the period the company has witnessed an 150 % of YoY growth. The company is funded by -Sucseed Ventures, Venture Catalysts, CIO Angels,91 Springboard and GHV Accelerator. Supplynote is the second platform in the direction of digitization of supply chain in f&b industry, by the parent company Adcount Technologies. In 2015, the company had launched the platform Adurcup. Including the current fundraise, the company-Adcount Technologies has raised a total of USD 1.6 M since its inception.

About SOSV

SOSV is a top-performing US-based venture capital firm with over US$740 million under management as of 2020. Recognized as the world's 2nd most active seed investor in 2019 by Crunchbase, SOSV backs more than 150 startups annually through its global accelerators. SOSV operates HAX, the world's first hardware accelerator (in Shenzhen, San Francisco, and Tokyo); Chinaccelerator, the first startup accelerator in China (in Shanghai); MOX, the accelerator for mobile-only markets (in Taipei); IndieBio, the first startup accelerator for life science and biotech (in San Francisco and New York); and Food-X, the disruptive food tech and agritech accelerator (in New York City).

Travel Tech Startup Guiddoo Raises Funding from SOSV, Artesian

Guiddoo, a Travel Technology Startup for in-destination experiences has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from SOSV - a  leading global venture capital firm based in New Jersey and Artesian China fund to build its products and offerings for the China market. Guiddoo currently offers its services across 15  international destinations and works with over 4000+ Travel Agents in India and also has institutional partners including Cleartrip & Yatra for their activities. 

The fresh funding comes within three months after the startup had raised $8,00,000 in December. In 2017, Guiddoo raised $300,000 (Rs 1.9 crore) and a second round of funding in December 2018 of $ 800,000 (Rs 6 crore) ) in a pre-Series A round from global investors.

According
to a recent report by McKinsey, China has pipped US to become the
largest outbound market in the world and will continue to consolidate
its leadership position with 160Mn outbound travelers by 2020. The funds
will be utilized to expand Guiddoo’s footprint in China and to
strengthen its on ground operations and product development. Guiddoo
also plans to add new destinations in Middle East and Africa into its
portfolio to a take a distinguishing space in the Chinese Market. As an
aggregator, the firm will also focus on adding independent Chinese
travel Service Providers into the loop.

Vineet Budki, Co-Founder & CEO at Guiddoo
said, “With rapid digitization and subsequent rise of an experiential
economy, there has been a fundamental shift in the consumer behavior
with them seeking novel experiences - such as travelling solo and to
unknown destinations, as part of their travel. This has fueled the
growth of in-destination segment and we see a huge potential in the same
going forward.

“China
is a potential market for us, and this investment will give us the
wings to fly higher. We are  delighted to have secured  funding  as well
as a strong partner in China this time around that will help us expand
our reach, acquire the right talent and augment our portfolio in the
China market. We are motivated more than ever to build a robust product
and extend the best services possible to our consumers,” he added.

“We
are excited to partner with Guiddoo in their endeavor to bring world
class search experiences to travel enthusiasts, having a digital
presence here in China.  With requisite infrastructure and support, the
travel sector is well-poised for growth and with Guiddoo’s expertise in
the ‘In-destination’ segment, we are confident of successfully reaping
the opportunity. We have full faith in the capabilities of the team and
look forward to achieving new milestones with them,” said William Bao Bean, General Partner at SOSV.

Oscar (MD, Chinaccelerator) said,
“Guiddoo  brings the best-in-class, digital, in-destination experiences
for  the independent Chinese travelers, which we believe is a growth
segment as Group Tours are so Old School. Having deen the strong growth
in the Travel Segment especially seeing the growth of CTrip, Qunar and
Mafengo, we see a huge growth potential in the Outbound Chinese Travel
Market and we believe that Guiddoo has the right product, team and
expertise to build a strong base here.”

Incepted
in 2013, the startup has been actively helping travelers to provide
seamless services so that they can enhance and enjoy their international
leisure trips. Guiddoo offers an array of In-Destination services like
Tours and Activities, Dining, Entertainment and Shopping as add-ons to
the Indian and Chinese Outbound travelers and curates special packages
for them based on their preferences and profile - which are differ from
global products in experience type, culinary habits, and prices among
others.

With over 4000+ Travel agents, 5000+ excursions, 30000+ Customers Handled and 15 destinations, Guiddoo offers an array of services like Tours and Activities, Dining, Entertainment and Shopping as add-ons to the Indian Outbound travelers and curates special packages for them. It was established in June 2013 by Vineet, Nidhi, Prashant and Biswajeet in the form of an App only Audio Guiding Product from In5 Dubai, and later pivoted to the current tours and activities model in 2017.

To recall, in last month NASDAQ-listed Ebix, through one of its subsidiaries, has acquired controlling stake in Zillious , a New Delhi-based Travel tech startup, for an undisclosed amount.

About SOSV & Chinaccelerator

Chinaccelerator,
the first startup accelerator to launch in China, is a
mentorship-driven program helping internet startups from around the
world cross borders - from the world into China and from China to the
world. It is operated by the venture fund SOSV with $500M+ AUM operating
six global accelerators. Chinaccelerator offers three months of
rigorous guidance, training and resources from mentors, partners and
investors. The robust and supportive alumni network continues beyond the
Chinaccelerator program.