India’s largest vernacular gaming platform WinZO Games on Friday announced the launch of Game Developer Fund II. The Company will be infusing $5 Mn or INR 37.50 Cr in this pool that will be used to uplift the Indian game ecosystem.
WinZO had unveiled similar fund in July 2019, with the company infusing $1.5 Mn at that time. The company has surely enlarged the size of its second Game Developer Fund. This is indicative of the fact that the company currently has a healthy cash reserves following its recent fund raising round.
However, the company also cited the increased engagement in games in the aftermath of ‘Covid-19 lockdown’ and ‘ban on Chinese apps’ as one of the main reasons for increasing the size of its Game Developer Fund.
The Gaming major had recently raised $18 Million in a series B round led by Singapore based Makers Fund and New York-based Courtside Venture. Last week, Bain Capital’s Co-Chairman and Epic Games Investor Steve Pagliuca had also invested $2 Mn in the company as part of the series B round.
When the company had announced Fund I in 2019, it received 250+ applications from large and small developers and ended up deploying the capital across 9 teams. The startup claims that out of 250+ applications it has already on-boarded 10+ games.
Commenting on the launch of Game Developer Fund II, Paavan Nanda, Co-founder, WinZO Games, said “We feel excited to announce the launch of Game Developer Fund II. Through this initiative, we are committed to uplift the Indian Gaming Ecosystem which is at the cusp of disruption. There is infinite talent and creativity and we would like to offer everything else that’s required for a team to create a dent in this space and create gaming products for the entertainment-starved Bharat.”
Nanda further added “We are not just focusing on Gaming projects but also equally keen to evaluate Game Ops, Streaming, Esports, etc related proposals. We also ensure a sustainable revenue stream by providing a ready-made market for the selected projects by introducing them to our 25 million+ registered user base.”