BuyStars raises USD 5 mn

Sports collectibles and skill-based gaming company BuyStars on Wednesday said it has raised USD 5 million (about Rs 41.40 crore) in a funding round led by Lumikai (India's pioneering Gaming and Interactive-focused VC Fund), Chiratae and Leo Capital.

The Pre-Series A funding round will be allocated towards investing in growth and launching new games on the platform, the company said in a statement.

With the fresh funding, BuyStars has now raised USD 9 million in total till date.

''We started with a mission to disrupt how cricket fans engage with games today. While funding is never a testament to a company's success, however, when experienced investors decide to back a company, it's definitely a great validation of the mission one started with and a tribute to the hard work of a team which came together to build it,'' BuyStars CEO and Co-founder Aman Satija said.

*** Yellow Metal raises USD 3 mn * Gold loan startup Yellow Metal on Wednesday said it has raised USD 3 million (about Rs 24.84 crore) in a funding round led by MSA Novo, a multi-stage venture capital firm.

The seed funding round also saw participation from Spiral Ventures, a Japanese VC firm and existing investors WaterBridge Ventures and Java Capital, the company said in a statement.

The fresh funds will help expand technology team operations across 25 new markets in and outside of Karnataka and also add new forms of asset-backed lending that are required for consumers in rural India.

''Building trust in the rural markets will help us become a destination for all forms of asset-backed lending. This seed fund will help us to invest more in technology that will, in turn, help build a better customer experience and a transparent product. If the company has a strong financial position, we will also be able to negotiate favourable terms from the partnerships,'' Yellow Metal Co-Founders Nikhil Boggaram and Rahul Boggaram said.