Corporate Crossings | Real-money gaming firm Zupee appoints Maneesh Goel as CFO

Maneesh Goel is the new CFO of Zupee.

Real-money gaming firm Zupee has appointed Maneesh Goel as the chief financial officer (CFO), the company said on December 13.

In this role, Goel would help drive profitability with scale as well as strengthen controls and governance processes, the startup said in a statement.

"As we rapidly grow our business, Manish’s proven experience, track record of financial acumen and strategic thinking will help bring prudent capital utilisation and drive profitability in the long run" Zupee founder Dilsher Singh Malhi said.

Goel joins Zupee from Naspers-backed payments and lending platform PayU India where he was the CFO for more than six years. He has served in various other senior positions, including a two-and-a-half-year stint as the chief executive of the now-defunct TV shopping channel Den Snapdeal TV Shop.

Goel has over 20 years of experience in finance and business functions across various industries, that includes stints at Dell, Times Internet and Honeywell.

"Zupee has a unique value proposition and a strong foundation from which the company can build its vision and spearhead the emerging culture of skill-based online gaming in the country," Goel said in a statement.

Founded by Malhi and Siddhant Saurabh in 2018, Zupee offers a range of skill-based casual games such as Ludo, Snakes and Ladders and carrom on its mobile app that lets users play and earn money. It claims to have more than 70 million downloads. It has over 300 employees.

The company closed a $102-million Series B funding round in January 2022 at a valuation of $600 million. It has raised a total of over $121 million to date and counts WestCap Group, Tomales Bay Capital, Nepean Capital, AJ Capital, Matrix Partners India and Orios Venture Partners among its investors.

It also announced a partnership with Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms in January 2022 to distribute its mobile games to all Jio phone customers.

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