Google has backed STAN, an Indian social gaming platform that connects gamers with creators, communities, and publishers. The investment is part of an $8.5 million equity funding round, which also saw participation from Japanese gaming giants Bandai Namco Entertainment, Square Enix, and Reazon Holdings. Other investors include Aptos Labs, King River Capital, and existing backers General Catalyst and GFR Fund. Google joined the round through its AI Futures Fund, an initiative launched in May to support startups building with its AI tools.
Headquartered in Singapore, STAN aims to rival Discord as a gaming community platform but takes a different approach. Users can earn in-app currency called “Gems” by winning games like Battlegrounds Mobile India, Free Fire Max, Minecraft, Call of Duty, or casual titles like Ludo and Snakes & Ladders. The app also allows creators to set up chat rooms called Clubs, tailored for each game. While anyone can join these Clubs, users must pay a social currency to access exclusive gaming experiences offered by creators, with STAN taking a commission from these transactions.
The primary appeal lies in the redeemable in-app currency, which can be exchanged for vouchers on platforms like Amazon, PhonePe, and Flipkart. Users can also earn currency through referrals, a spin-to-win wheel, and daily rewards. This monetization model sets STAN apart from Discord, where interactions typically don’t yield tangible rewards beyond social clout.
Despite its differences, STAN aims to compete directly with Discord. The company claims over 25 million downloads across the Play Store and App Store, with around 5.5 million monthly active users.
Parth Chadha, co-founder and CEO of STAN, describes the platform as a fusion of social and gaming, where users can make friends, play together, and engage in conversations. Initially, creators needed approval to stream, but last year, the platform opened to user-generated content, boosting downloads and engagement.
STAN also collaborates with game publishers like Krafton, Garena, and Roblox, who pay to connect with gamers and creators on the platform. Chadha revealed that nearly 100 publishers, studios, and developers have joined in the past two quarters, with more than 20 new partners onboarding each month.
With Google’s backing, STAN plans to enhance AI-powered moderation, which already handles 70% to 80% of content filtering. The startup aims to further reduce human moderation by leveraging AI. Additionally, it plans to introduce AI toolkits for creators, including avatar and meme generation, quick replies, and chat filtering.
STAN isn’t the first Indian startup backed by Google’s AI Futures Fund. That distinction goes to Toonsutra, an AI-powered comic-reading platform. Google has invested over $5.5 billion in India to date, including in startups like Pixxel and Adda 24X7.
Although currently geo-restricted to India, STAN sees 5%–6% of its engagement from users abroad, often accessing the platform via Indian phone numbers. The startup plans to expand internationally, starting with the Indian subcontinent, followed by Southeast Asia and Latin America.
STAN was briefly profitable but chose to reinvest funds to scale. It now aims to achieve profitability by 2027. The company employs around 40 people, with fewer than 30 in product engineering. With this latest funding round, STAN’s total equity funding has reached approximately $15 million.