Gaming Giant JetSynthesys Bags INR 300 Cr From Kris Gopalakrishnan, Others

Digital entertainment and technology company JetSynthesys has raised INR 300 Cr from existing stakeholders Infosys’ cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan, Adar Poonawalla family office and Navani family-owned Jetline Group. Thermax family office, Triveni Group and DSP Group have also invested in this round.

The company plans to use this funding to strengthen its gaming and digital entertainment offerings and internet-based social community platform. Rajan Navani, managing director of JetSynthesys, added that the company is also pursuing global partnerships in Japan and US.

Besides this, JetSynthesys will also use this to primarily invest in its gaming and digital wellness platforms as they have witnessed a surge in consumption due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the stay-at-home norm. Navani also highlighted that its esports platform Nodwin Gaming, has grown to INR 100 Cr revenue in the last four years, and the company aims to replicate the same growth with its other platforms over the next 24 to 36 months.

“We have several initiatives in gaming, content, digital commerce, mindfulness and fintech which are seeing increased traction during Covid times. Our international business with global partners is also seeing increased traction. This funding will allow us to invest more in sales and marketing as well as scale up operations,” said Gopalakrishnan, non-executive chairman of JetSynthesys.

JetSynthesys’s portfolio includes gaming platforms such as Sachin Saga Cricket Champions, Sachin Saga VR, World Ludo Champions, Nova, Nodwin Gaming, and Being Salman; community and social platforms like 100 MB, ThinkRight.me, Simply Love, Top Connect, Sonic Jobs, TOK.tv, Daily Hinduism; digital media and entertainment platforms like Airtel Vi-Play/Vi-Tune, Matas, Leasy, Sony Blue Planet, Yesflix, Muzibo and Channel Fight. The company has also set its foot in fintech with Anyday Money and traveltech with Mezi.

JetSynthesys has also partnered with WWE for ‘WWE Racing Showdown’, a vehicular combat game. The company’s digital entertainment and technology company has over 100 Mn consumers across 180 countries, and a part of this capital raise will be used to expand that as well.

“In light of recent global developments, digital products and services are the need of the hour, since they help everyone feel connected, while also contributing to social distancing. Gaming, social communities, and digital entertainment have thus become basic essentials in this new normal,” said Adar Poonawalla, chief executive of Serum Institute of India.

Recently, the union minister of state for finance, Anurag Thakur, highlighted that the media and entertainment industry is likely to emerge as one of the biggest employment generators in the post-Covid India.

India’s national investment promotion and facilitation agency, Invest India had projected the Indian media & entertainment industry to touch $34.8 Bn by 2021. It further stated that the industry is projected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 14% over the period 2016-2021, outshining the global average of 4.2% CAGR, with advertising revenue expected to increase at a CAGR of 15.3% during the same period.