Social networking app Qlan, designed for gamers and esports enthusiasts, has secured a pre-seed funding of $200,000 to fuel its expansion and enhance gamer networking and discovery, as well as content creation capabilities.
The app first launched as a bootstrapped startup and currently has over 100,000 combined downloads after its extensive six-month beta testing period, leading to a full-version launch in January 2023.
Qlan’s approach to making a positive impact on the grassroots of the gaming industry attracted support from investors including Marwah Sports, CIIE.CO, and Faad Network in the funding round. These investments will help Qlan in its vision of empowering gamers worldwide.
Sagar Nair, co-founder, and CEO of Qlan said, “The pre-seed funding round signifies an exciting new phase for Qlan, and we are delighted to have Marwah Sports, CIIE.CO and Faad Network as backers. This demonstrates the remarkable potential of Qlan and the burgeoning global gaming and esports industry.
“While we are grateful for the worldwide validation of Qlan by gamers, our primary objective now is to scale our platform, optimise user experience and gain deeper insights into our community’s needs. With the invaluable support of our investors, we are poised to elevate Qlan to new horizons and empower the ever-expanding global community of gamers,” added Nair.
Fueling innovation and expansion
With a team of more than 20 professionals, the startup experienced an organic expansion, garnering a user community exceeding 50,000 gamers. Qlan has now initiated itself as a hub for gamers and esports enthusiasts with early adopters across the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, North and South America, South Africa and the MENA regions.
Pranav Marwah, CEO of Marwah Sports said, “Meaningful and engaged communities will form the bedrock of the fledgling Indian and global gaming ecosystem. With Qlan, individuals and organisations can focus on what is most important – retention and engagement. We are encouraged and excited by the progress made by the team- this is only Just the beginning!”
Qlan plans to use the funds raised to not only expand its platform to a wider community but also to bolster its team and leverage its technical product.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
