Japanese video game brand SEGA means business after partnering with yet another Indian startup: Flutin. The new investment is part of SEGA’s promise to help finance ten startups back in 2018.
As part of SEGA’s promise, Flutin will receive $100,000 to enhance development and market its rapidly growing app. The music app has nearly ten million downloads and over 300,000 daily active users at press time.
Flutin: An Overview
Flutin is a relatively new app that focuses on helping music fans discover talented but underappreciated musicians. So far, it’s been a success thanks to its huge fan base that streams three million songs daily.
Although a young company, Flutin has been aggressive to promote its app worldwide. The US is the app’s new target, a group it hopes to wean over with funding from SEGA.
At its core, Flutin uses AI to connect music fans with artists whose music they might like. But instead of showing people famous songs, it focuses on new artists in India, Europe and the US.
SEGA sees a Great Future in Flutin
SEGA’s decision to invest in Flutin might have been driven by the company’s home country’s music culture.
“63% of total music revenue in Japan comes from independent music,” SEGA said on why it chose to invest in Flutin. “(SEGA) understands this will be reflected globally in a few years.”
SEGA isn’t alone in believing the future of music lies in independent partners. GHV Accelerator, and HNI Angels, both investment groups, also injected money into Flutin.
The specific amount raised by SEGA and partners wasn’t revealed. But based on its 2018 promise, SEGA raised over $100,000 for Flutin. GHV, on the other end, has a partnership with SEGA to mentor promising startups.
More Investments in India
Since its entrance into the Indian market, SEGA has remained optimistic about the country’s economy. It has been partnering with at least one upstart each year and providing mentorships to tons of companies.
SEGA has been vocal about its interest in India’s music industry. But like Games Warehouse, a London-based casino games’ software provider, SEGA has its roots in gaming. The Japanese brand has a long history of creating video games, but lately, it’s become more of an investment group targeting these industries:
Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of Things describes the field of technology that deals with Internet-enabled devices. That includes refrigerators, thermometers, toasters, mobile phones, home lighting systems or doors with Internet connectivity.
What’s more, IoT focuses on automating the simple tools in our lives. As such, it’s not just about gathering data about items in your fridge. It’s also about commanding your lights to turn on and off or your garage door to open through an app.
IoT is a mushrooming field in India, hence SEGA’s interest. However, it’s a significantly small industry compared to other technological areas.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence describes knowledge demonstrated by a machine. Computer’s ability to play chess, for example, is accomplished through AI. Artificial Intelligence also helps power automated milking machines, Facebook and Flutin algorithms.
Artificial Intelligence is one of the most trending topics in the tech world, so it’s not surprising SEGA wants to get involved. Again, AI is projected to play an increasingly significant role in our society in the future.
As such, any company that uses AI to solve problems is guaranteed to remain relevant in the future. Of course, some AI users are more essential than others. And as such, SEGA is keen to identify, and partner with the upstarts with ingenious AI uses in India.
Big Data
Big data describes the huge volumes companies collect every day and how they can be used to impact change. Facebook, for example, receives hundreds of terabytes about people’s names, ages, locations and interests each day.
When this information is structured, analyzed and applied correctly, it can impact both small and large businesses immensely. Against that backdrop, tons of startups have come up with suggestions on how best to collect and process big data.
SEGA could invest in some of these companies if it’s convinced, they have a unique idea. However, there’s no information about the Japanese brand partnering with big data upstarts in India yet.
Machine Learning
Machine learning is related to artificial intelligence, and they are regularly used together. However, they share some differences. For starters, machine learning refers to the process of a computer learning how to interact with humans through experience.
For example, Facebook’s algorithm learns what content you hate based on how frequently you scroll past these posts.
Similarly, it interprets what you love based on how often you interact with similar posts. In turn, the algorithms display posts you react to and hide content you tend to ignore. Machine learning works in conjunction with AI to automate projects or to enhance computers’ interactions with humans.
