India To Have 10 Unicorns & 5 Decacorns From The Gaming Ecosystem In Next 5 Years: WinZo Founder

In 2021, a report by KPMG outlined that the number of online gamers in India grew almost 2X to 400 Mn by mid-2020, making it the second-largest base of online gamers after China. It added that the country’s online gaming market is expected to become a massive $3.9 Bn economy by 2025, so it was natural that Inc42’s The Makers’ Summit 2022 included a session on learning the tidbits of creating a chartbuster product in the gaming industry.

The first day of the TMS 2022 hosted a panel discussion between WinZO founder Paavan Nanda and Nazara’s Nitish Mittersain, moderated by BEENEXT’s Chinmaya Saxena.

During the session, Nanda stated that India will have 10 unicorns and five decacorns in the next five years.

He added that while India still lags behind in competing with companies based out of China, the US or Korea, there has to be some degree of technology transfer and technology import to expedite the process of the gaming boom in India.

The push further needs multiple forces coming in the same direction. For example, the government pushing the gaming industry, international companies or their subsidiaries wanting to set shops in India, esports companies going after teams with their support, resources and guidance —

“I think we are in a very thriving ecosystem. As far as gaming is concerned, we are really starting to see international quality stuff coming out of India in the next 3-4 years,” Nanda added.

Founded by Nanda and Saumya Singh in early 2018, WinZO partners with third-party developers to host games on their android app, where users can enjoy personalised multiplayer gameplay experiences. The platform is available in 12 languages such as English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, and Bhojpuri, with more than 50 Mn registered users.

It is backed by marquee investors such as Griffin Gaming Partners, Makers Fund, Courtside Ventures and Bain Capital’s Steve Pagliuca. The startup last raised $65 Mn in its Series C round in July 2021, taking the company’s total funds raised to $90 Mn.

Currently, the gaming industry boasts three unicorns — Dream11, Mobile Premier League (MPL) and the recent entrant Games24x7. Another gaming startup Nazara Technologies went public last year is also currently valued at around $657 Mn.