Atlanta, US, October 28, 2020 — Today, the investment institutions Initial Capital and New Stack announced that they are leading a seed round for the new gaming platform Shotcall with 2.2 million USD, closed by Lerer Hippeau. After Microsoft has closed their own platform, Mixer, there were many streamers and content creators who didn’t feel at home anywhere else, so this might be good momentum for Shotcall to gather more users.
Shotcall is an Atlanta-based startup founded by Gordon Li, Thomas Gentle, and Riley Auten. Their mission is to tie a closer and more interactive bond between streamers and their audiences. They offer game streamers a toolbox to schedule and monetize sessions with their fans more easily and help them grow their community through direct engagements.
What do they do?
The platform run by Shotcall is currently live and functional, and with the funding, they plan to support further growth and finance marketing activities. More goals on the roadmap consist of activities to integrate with more game publishers and gather industry influencers’ support.
With Mixer gone, there has been a serious vacuum for many streamers. They’ve been there in the first place because they didn’t want to be on platforms like Twitch, Facebook, or YouTube. Some of these game stream audience members and the streamers and content creators were not satisfied with these platforms after Mixer closed their doors. Shotcall might not be a full replacement of Mixer, but it might help streamers augment their experience to provide their viewers with richer shows.
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As such, it might be an intriguing proposition to try out a platform like Shotcall now, as it appears to pursue similar goals in comparison to what Mixer was all about – interaction with the audience. What the competition now lacks in this aspect might be the chance for Shotcall to increase its partners and userbase.
Thoughts from the leadership
“If you have a fan base and you game, you should be on Shotcall. There are dozens of different sites for coaching, hosting tournaments, streaming, and other events, but Shotcall is the only platform that houses all of these interactions under one roof and not while having to be on the sidelines,” said Thomas Gentle, Shotcall Co-Founder, and CEO. “Shotcall is a two-fold solution for the gaming community. It allows fans to actually play their favorite games with the hosts they admire while also creating important monetization opportunities for creators who are resistant to asking their community for direct financial support. Shotcall is a community where both the fan and creator have an incredible return on their investment.”
“Since Initial Capital began investing in mobile and other gaming companies nearly 20 years ago, we have invested in winners at each stage of the industry’s development. From pre-loaded mobile phone games like Macrospace to the first smartphone games like Playfish to revolutionary one-on-one combat and cooperative games like Supercell and multiplayer, real-time games like Vain Glory and Catalyst Black, we’ve been front and center to every important growth phase of the gaming industry,” said Ken Lamb, Co-Founder of Initial Capital and a member of the Shotcall Board of Directors. “Shotcall is the next winner in today’s generation of mobile, console, and PC gaming. Through real-time engagement between creators and their fans, the gaming community is able to connect in ways that simply did not exist until now.”
Photo credit: All images used are owned by Shotcall and were provided for press use.
Source: We have received a press release directly by mail.
