Thomas Gentle, founder and CEO of video game streaming startup Shotcall, grew up with a stutter. But when he picked up a gaming controller, he said that no longer mattered.
“Growing up, I was essentially a mute,” Gentle said. “Gaming for a lot of people is a means of escapism. For me, it was a solace to build relationships and find a community that I could connect to.”
Gentle hopes he can help foster even more connections within the gaming community with Shotcall, and he’s now raised $2.2 million in a seed round led by Initial Capital to grow his vision.
Shotcall is a platform that allows video game streamers, some of whom have risen to global influencer status within the gaming world, to play games with their fans.
Gentle said Shotcall works with any streaming platform, such as YouTube or Twitch, to create a virtual “event” that puts streamers and their fans in the same space so they can interact together.
With this funding, Gentle said he’s grown his team from four people to 15 and is working to enhance the technology in the platform. New Stack and Lerer Hippeau joined Initial Capital as investors in the seed round. See more here.
