What gaming tech firm ARC raised in pre-seed funding led by Chimera VC, MIXI Global Investments

Gaming technology company ARC has raised ₹10.5 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by Chimaera VC and MIXI Global Investments. Dhruv Vohra, Director, APAC, Meta, was also present in the round as a personal guest.

The Bengaluru-based startup will use the fresh capital to speed up the development and commercialisation of its first product, ARC X1. The money will be used for hardware engineering, product validation, manufacturing readiness, and supply chain. ARC will also increase its OWL OS gaming software platform team and go-to-market efforts, as well as its OWL OS product development team and OWL OS product offering.

ARC X1 aims to make dedicated gaming more accessible

ARC, established by Jobin Joseph and Kaustubh K. Jadhav, is creating an integrated gaming platform that encompasses hardware, software and gaming experiences. It is going to release its first device, the ARC X1, a portable gaming console targeted at Indian gamers.

The ARC is not like the traditional white-label gaming devices and is developing its own hardware and software stack. The company aims to develop a broader range of products, including devices, operating systems, software services, and game experiences.

The architecture of ARC X1 is based on the ARM processor with Qualcomm technology. It runs OWL OS, the company's proprietary gaming operating system based on an AOSP foundation. The software has been built with a controller-first approach to navigation and optimised for the game.

Multiple gaming options planned

ARC X1 is in the works to be compatible with native Android games, PC gaming using ARC's software suite and cloud gaming. The company claims it will not just port a traditional Android UI to a handheld device but will provide a "dedicated gaming experience".

ARC has now surpassed 50,000 signups on its waitlist. It has also been working with Qualcomm in the lead-up to the product's commercial release and has been testing it with early gamers to make sure both the hardware and software are improved.

Investors back India's gaming hardware opportunity

According to Krish Anurag, Managing Partner of Chimaera VC, ARC's strategy is not just about creating yet another handheld gaming console. He underscored the company's commitment to the broader tech stack, including its hardware, operating system, developer ecosystem and content.

Given the size of the gaming community in India and the lack of affordable dedicated gaming hardware, ARC X1 has an opportunity to make handheld gaming more accessible, said Tomoharu Urabe, the company's Managing Director (Investment).

The new fund will also enable ARC to strengthen partnerships across gaming, cloud, content and technology as it works towards the commercial launch of X1 and extends its hardware-plus-software gaming ecosystem from India, ARC added.