The online gaming industry has had a huge surge triggered by the Covid pandemic. Information from privately owned business data tracker Venture Intelligence showed that this funneled a large number of dollars into Indian gaming startups and set very high investment standards for the world!

Venture capital funds have put $438 million in Indian gaming startups since April 2020, of which $107 million came in the new year. In the examination, the total investment in Indian gaming startups in the past monetary year was simply $170 million.

With mobile gaming organizations showing development in user base and a strong income model, the private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms have pumped in a huge amount of money into the sector with an eye on the drawn-out development possibilities. As per Maple Capital Advisors, the all-out VC subsidizing in Indian gaming startups was $350 million between 2014-20, which is developing at a CAGR of 22%. The firm likewise expressed that the section has additionally seen expanded abroad investments and partnerships given its development direction.

On the off chance that one passes by the new news reports and raises money done by gaming organizations, the sector will keep on drawing in investment in 2021 and beyond.

Choosing Gaming Over Others
Creativeland Asia’s Chairman and Founder, Sajan Raj Kurup, who recently invested in Revenant Esports, talks about his interest in the gaming organization. Kurup additionally shares the justification for picking the gaming business over different industries.

Kurup additionally accepts that “Esports is the most introverted form of sports. With the life systems of pandemics and how the world is right now going, we are going to live in an air pocket for quite a while. It won’t get normal at any point shortly. This could be an incredible time as the new culture is starting. I truly see the gaming business thriving. I personally don’t consider it to be a major danger however to a greater degree a determined one”.

Numbers Speaking The Industry’s Fate
Madhur Singhal, Practice Director, Technology and Internet, Praxis Global Alliance says, “India is one of the best five online gaming markets globally developing at more than twofold the development pace of other similar economies. There is a gigantic potential to put resources into the quickest developing portion in Indian media and entertainment that is estimated to arrive at a market size of USD 2.2 billion by 2022.”

Online fantasy sports organization Dream11’s parent organization Dream Sports is hoping to raise $300 million at a valuation of $4 billion. Prior, it had shut financing worth $225 million at a valuation of $2.5 billion.

Also, Nazara’s subsidiaries – Nodwin Gaming and HalaPlay, raised fundings from Krafton and Milan Ganatra individually. Adman Sajan Raj Kurup, Creativeland Asia’s founder, gets a 40% stake in a start-up Revenant Esports.

Kwalee, a UK-based game developer and publisher, is good to go to pump $30 million investment in its India activities throughout the following five years. There has been an expanded cross-line interest in consolidations and acquisitions and there are signs that different organizations could accomplish unicorn status in the following one to two years, according to the new report on Indian gaming by Maple Capital Advisors Private Limited.

Fantasy sports startup Dream 11 brought $225 million up in September 2020. As of late, Virat Kohli upheld Asia’s leading eSports and mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL), and raised $95 million, drawing nearer to the unicorn club with a valuation of $945 million.

The vast majority of online and real money gaming platforms, including MPL, WinZO, and Paytm First Games, detailed a major leap in rush hour, user base, and time spent on gaming in 2020. Paytm First Games saw a 200% expansion in user base and a four-overlay expansion in interactive experiences in the first half of 2020.

Hornbill Capital had put Rs 100 crore in IPO bound Nazara and preceding that Plutus Wealth and Associates bought shares worth Rs 500 crore from WestBridge Capital, denoting a total exit for WestBridge.

Digital media organization Hungama alongside content creation organization Hindustan Talkies has caused an essential venture of up to $500,000 in the Indian Gaming League (IGL), a platform for cutthroat gaming that permits users to win exciting awards in e-sports rivalries.

Canada-based online and mobile gaming platform i3 Interactive has gone into a contract to get a 51% stake in skill-based fantasy sports platform LivePools for $7.5 million.

Zupee, a main skill-based mobile gaming platform in India, has figured out how to raise a sum of $19 million to date. It brought $10 million up in the most recent round led by WestCap Group (WestCap), a main US development value firm, with support from existing investor Matrix Partners India.

Becoming Investors’ Darling This Year
India’s gaming industry which was estimated at Rs 9000 crore in FY 20 is seeing a rise in the expansion of internet users which now stands at 570 million. The other factor driving this development is that more than 50% of India’s populace is under 25 years, which comprises the center, gaming crowd. KPMG’s Media and Entertainment report estimated the gaming user base stands at 365 million.

KPMG in India Partner and Head (Media and Entertainment) Girish Menon said mobile gaming has been seeing a critical flood in interest from users post the pandemic. Accordingly, numerous mobile gaming organizations – especially the multi-gaming stages have been drawing in a ton of investor’s interest as their user base and fans have been flooded.

The Indian gaming industry has more than 380 million gamers with incomes more than $1.2 billion and is ready to fill quickly in the years to come while the casual gaming section is relied upon to become quickest among the sub-portions with the fast development in utilization converting into expanded monetization.

According to Sensor Tower (app analytics company), standalone gaming apps on Google Play Store and Apple App Store recorded a smashing growth of 51% and 30% respectively, in revenue from user spending on in-app purchases in 2020. Apart from the growth in the Indian gaming market, investors are also beginning to see the global growth potential of some of these platforms and wish to be a part of this incredible process.

Credits: Mint