Nazara Invests In US Based Gaming Fund BITKRAFT Ventures

SUMMARY

With this investment, Nazara aims to leverage BITKRAFT’s network for potential partnerships and investment into the company and its subsidiaries

Out of $2.5 Mn funding, $875K will be invested in the beginning while the remaining investment will be made in tranches over the next three years

With the current deal, Nazara plans to build a network with limited partners (LP) as well as the investee companies to gain access into the global gaming ecosystem

Nazara Pte. Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mumbai-based Nazara Technologies is investing $2.5 Mn in US-based gaming fund BITKRAFT Ventures.

According to Nazara, of this, $875K will be invested in the beginning while the remaining investment will be made in tranches over the next three years.

With this investment, Nazara aims to leverage BITKRAFT Ventures’ network for potential partnerships and investments into the company and its subsidiaries.

Nazara will further help BITKRAFT in securing deal flow for future M&A from the current portfolio of the funds and inflow of deals coming to funds. It will explore co-investment opportunities into highly sought-after founders.

Singapore-based Nazara Pte Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nazara Technologies that is a diversified gaming and sports media platform. Nazara Technologies owns various recognisable IPs including World Cricket Championship, Kiddopia, NODWIN and Sportskeeda, Halaplay, Qunami and OpenPlay.

In January this year, Nazara Technologies also acquired a 55% stake in programmatic advertising and monetisation startup Datawrkz that helped increase its valuation of up to INR 225 Cr (approx. $30 Mn).

“We are excited to get into this partnership between Nazara, BITKRAFT Venture Portfolio companies and BITKRAFT Ventures as a platform. The partnership will help to increase the connectivity into the highly strategic Indian video games market. We have done multiple investments in the subcontinent and intend to do more in the future along with supporting international Investment to drive growth in India,” said Malte Barth, founding general partner at BITKRAFT Ventures.

Founded in 2017 by Jens Hilgers, BITKRAFT Ventures is an investment platform. It primarily focuses on gaming, Web3 and immersive technology. According to the website, the company participates in Seed, Series A and Series B funding rounds of game studios, gaming platforms and gaming-related technology.

With the current deal, Nazara plans to build a network with limited partners (LP) as well as the investee companies to gain access into the global gaming ecosystem.

According to an Inc42 report, Nazara Technologies earned revenue of INR 185.8 Cr in Q3 ended December 2021 in FY22 against INR 130.4 Cr in Q3 FY21. The startup’s revenue has grown by 42% year-on-year (YoY).

Further its earnings before EBITDA for Q3 FY22, witnessed a 10% year-on-year growth from Q3 FY20, rising from INR 17.3 Cr to INR 30.2 Cr.