Google has backed STAN, an Indian social gaming platform that connects avid gamers with creators, communities, and publishers.
Google’s funding comes as a part of an $8.5 million fairness funding spherical, which additionally noticed funding from Japanese gaming giants Bandai Namco Leisure, Sq. Enix, and Reazon Holdings. Aptos Labs and King River Capital, in addition to current backers Normal Catalyst and GFR Fund, additionally participated. Google joined the spherical by way of its AI Futures Fund, which launched in Might to help startups constructing with its AI instruments.
STAN, headquartered in Singapore, is making an attempt to place itself as a gaming neighborhood platform to rival Discord, however its strategy to the market is sort of totally different. STAN lets customers earn in-app forex referred to as “Gems” by successful video games like Krafton’s Battlegrounds Cellular India, Garena’s Free Fireplace Max, Minecraft, Name of Obligation, or informal titles like Ludo and Snakes & Ladders.
The app additionally lets creators arrange chat rooms referred to as Golf equipment, that are channels tailor-made for every sport on the platform. Whereas anybody can be part of these Golf equipment, they should pay a social forex to entry the “gaming experiences” that creators supply. The startup takes a fee from these transactions.
The first attraction appears to be the in-app forex, nonetheless, as it may be redeemed for vouchers on numerous e-commerce platforms like Amazon, PhonePe, and Flipkart. Customers may earn forex by way of referrals, a spin-to-win wheel, and day by day rewards.
It seems STAN’s monetization mannequin is what units it aside: Customers can earn rewards by way of interactions, in contrast to on Discord, the place chatting or taking part in communities doesn’t earn customers a lot, other than clout.
Nonetheless, STAN needs to shadow Discord. The corporate claims it has already garnered over 25 million downloads on the Play Retailer and App Retailer altogether, and it has round 5.5 million month-to-month energetic customers.
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
“STAN is the hangout place for avid gamers. It’s a spot the place avid gamers come and make buddies, play with one another, speak to one another, kind of a fusion of social and gaming,” stated Parth Chadha, co-founder and CEO of STAN, in an interview.
Chadha credit the platform’s options for its traction to date. Initially, creators needed to contact the corporate’s group to start out streaming, however final yr, the startup opened the platform to user-generated content material, permitting anybody to go reside. That shift helped drive each downloads and engagement, the CEO stated.
STAN additionally works with sport publishers, studios, and builders, together with Krafton, Garena, and Roblox, who pay the startup to attach them with avid gamers and creators on the platform.
Chadha informed TechCrunch that previously two quarters, practically 100 sport publishers, studios, and builders have joined the platform, and it’s bringing greater than 20 on board every month.
“That’s turning into a really attention-grabbing enterprise stream as we communicate,” he stated.
Trying forward, STAN plans to leverage Google’s backing to make use of AI to enhance moderation.
Presently 70% to 80% of moderation on STAN is already dealt with by AI, Chadha stated. A human moderation group manages the remainder, however the startup plans to cut back that additional through the use of AI.
Moreover, STAN goals to carry AI-powered toolkits for creators, together with the power to provide avatars and memes, in addition to instruments for fast replies and filtering out chats.
“There are numerous attention-grabbing plug-and-play fashions, which we and the Google group are working collectively to leverage and scale the enterprise,” he acknowledged.
STAN isn’t the primary Indian startup to be backed by Google’s AI Futures Fund. That distinction goes to Toonsutra, a startup utilizing AI to energy an immersive comic-reading expertise.
Google confirmed to TechCrunch that it has invested over $5.5 billion in India so far, together with in startups Toonsutra, STAN, Pixxel, and Adda247.
Though STAN’s app is presently geo-restricted to India, the platform nonetheless sees 5% to six% of its engagement coming from customers overseas, who typically entry it utilizing Indian cellphone numbers and accounts. Over the subsequent yr, the startup plans to broaden internationally, beginning with the Indian subcontinent, and can later goal Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The startup was worthwhile for just a few months, the CEO stated, however determined to spend some cash to scale. Now it goals to attain profitability in 2027, he added.
Presently, the startup employs about 40 individuals; lower than 30 of them work in product engineering.
With this increase, STAN’s complete fairness funding now stands at round $15 million.
