Social gaming platform STAN has raised $8.5 million in a Series A funding round, with participation from some of the biggest names in gaming and technology. Investors in this round include Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Square Enix, and Reazon Holdings from Japan, alongside Google’s AI Futures Fund and Aptos Labs. The round also saw continued backing from existing investors such as General Catalyst, GFR Fund, T Accelerate Capital, and Pix Capital.
This follows a pre-Series A round of $4.5 million, raised from the likes of GFR Fund, Aptos Labs, Pix Capital, Maelstrom Fund, and returning support from General Catalyst.
STAN announced that the newly raised capital will be utilized to scale operations across India and other mobile-first global markets, enhance AI-driven personalization features, develop creator tooling, and roll out new integrations for publishers looking to build within gaming-led communities.
Founded in 2022 by Parth Chadha, Rahul Singh, and Nauman Mulla, STAN positions itself as a mobile-native social platform built for gaming creators, publishers, and communities. It offers a suite of features including live audio, creator clubs, and real-time monetization tools designed to foster growth and engagement among gaming audiences.
The platform empowers creators with monetization avenues such as shoutouts, subscriptions, and brand-led activations, while also offering publishers native distribution capabilities driven by community and creator engagement.
“We have built STAN with India at the core and the user at the centre. Every product decision is grounded in what drives real value for our creators and communities. In the last two years, we have grown 25 times purely through product-led growth,” said Parth Chadha, Co-founder and CEO of STAN.
STAN claims to have achieved over 25 million downloads, with a strong foothold particularly in tier 2 and tier 3 cities across India. The company primarily competes with global platforms like Discord in the social gaming space, as it continues to build on its creator-first, mobile-native approach to community building and monetization.
