LOKA, Parent company: Misso

Having some experience founding a food startup Foodebaba, Krishnan knew what it takes to start all over again. "I had valuable experience of working in a startup, founding a company, talking to investors. And I said now I'm going to follow my passion," he says. His pivot from food to metaverse was driven by a very specific cultural insight. Krishnan said he wanted to create a game that focused on India: "I've played several Web2 games, including Hitman with the map of Mumbai, Call of Duty based in Himachal Pradesh or Uncharted in Tamil Nadu, and I realised that when you add localisation to a game, it transforms from just being a game into something magical that connects people. I wanted to create a game that centred around India, its culture, its experiences, its people and thus, I founded Loka."

LOKA is India's proposed first gamified social metaverse — a mobile application where users create avatars and explore 3D virtual replicas of real Indian city locations, interact with other users in real time, attend virtual events, and access integrated e-commerce and entertainment services, all within a distinctly Indian cultural context. As per a statement by Sunderarajan: "I am the founder of India's first gamified Metaverse — LOKA. We're trying to create gamified 3D versions of real cities and locations like Connaught Place in Delhi, or Manhattan in New York, or Oxford Street in London, where real people can participate in concurrent and real-time experiences powered by third-party apps like Amazon, Netflix, Deliveroo, and Miniclip. We are also focused on re-creating the feel, vibe and heritage of a place or a city by integrating contextually relevant and culturally relatable elements." Loka provides its users the ability to start with an avatar first, then gender selection.