Nazara Technologies is heading towards its planned IPO with eye popping INR 100 Cr funding. The Mumbai based company raised massive funding from Instant Growth Limited, an investment arm of Hornbill Orchid India Fund. The company was also in news recently for secondary transaction, after Plutus Wealth Management acquired shares worth Rs 500 crore from existing investor WestBridge Ventures II. The secondary transaction led to a complete exit of WestBridge Capital.
Nazara is among India’s diversified gaming and sports media platforms with a presence not only in India but also in developed economies including North America. The company owns some of the most recognizable IP in gaming and sporting field. This includes WCC and CarromClash in mobile games, Kiddopia in gamified early learning, NODWIN and Sportskeeda in esports and esports media, and Halaplay and Qunami in skill-based, fantasy and trivia games. Nazara was among the first entrants in the Indian market in esports (through NODWIN) and cricket simulation (through Next Wave). It is also one of the few Indian startups that is backed by stock market investor baron Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
Commenting on the latest fundraising, Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara says, “We welcome Hornbill Capital’s entry into the Indian gaming ecosystem with their investment in Nazara. We are glad that they share our conviction and excitement on the future of the gaming sector in India and the value creation potential which gaming offers to the investors. The leadership team of Hornbill Capital has been part of the growth story of many consumer internet companies and we at Nazara look forward to leveraging their experience of working with some of the smartest tech entrepreneurs across the globe and having an inside view of blitz scaling of their portfolio companies in the last decade.”
Nazara’s latest capital infusion has come at a time when online gaming traction is growing leaps and bounce across India. Buoyed by positive effect of last year’s COVID lockdown, online mobile gaming traction has especially grown significantly. As per Google KPMG report, India is now the fastest-growing mobile market and is poised to touch $1.1Bn by 2022.