Blockchain-based esports fan engagement startup Stan has raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from Better Capital and Eximius Ventures, the company said on May 25. Angel investors, including Coinbase’s Nakul Gupta and Opensea’s Aadil Mamujee, joined the round.

Starting in 2022, Stan’s founding team includes Games co-founders Parth Chadha and Rahul Singh, Nodwin Gaming co-founder Akshat Rathee, EWar Games executive Nauman Mulla and former FanPlay executive Shubham Gupta. Stan has built a platform that allows esports fans to collect, play and trade digital collectables, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), from their favourite esports players and content creators, through which they can earn physical and virtual world perks and rewards, such as the chance to meet their favourite players.

The startup said its platform ensures that assets can be purchased using traditional in-game currencies through normal in-app purchases, enabling fans to purchase these items using fiat currency. It also plans to launch blockchain-based fantasy sports.

The startup plans to use the funding to launch its platform and partner with prominent gaming organisations and players in India and other countries. Proceeds will also be used to expand the team by recruiting design and technical talent, the company said in a statement.

Stan said it would initially focus primarily on Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Free Fire games. The company says it has partnerships with several leading BGMI creators such as GodLike Esports (‘Jonathan’ Amaral, Abhijeet ‘Ghatak’ Andhare, Abhishek ‘ZGOD’ Choudhary, Vivek ‘ClutchGod’ Horo). It also works with FreeFire creators such as Total Gaming (Ajay), Assassins Army (Nayan Raju Shelke) and Desi Gamers (Amit Sharma) and has “more partnerships like this”.

According to General Catalyst partner Anand Chandrasekaran, the two fastest-growing consumer sectors in India regarding innovation levels, creator energy, and mainstream adoption are eSports and Web3/NFT.