Nazara Technologies is picking up a 15.86 percent stake in gaming community startup Stan for $2.2 million (Rs 18.4 crore) in cash through a secondary transaction from existing shareholders. This deal is part of the company's efforts to bolster its position in the gaming and esports landscape.
As per the deal, Nazara's Dubai subsidiary Nazara Dubai is buying 3.17 lakh shares (3,17,333 shares) from Akshat Rathee and Gautam Singh Virk, the co-founders of its esports subsidiary Nodwin Gaming.
“STAN’s mobile-first approach and focus on community engagement align perfectly with our vision to become a leading player in the global esports ecosystem. This acquisition allows us to expand our reach while empowering content creators and fostering a stronger gaming community,” said Nitish Mittersain, CEO of Nazara Technologies in a statement.
Started by Parth Chadha, Rahul Singh, Nauman Mulla, and Shubham Gupta in 2022, Stan provides a platform for creators to build, monеtisе communitiеs and allow usеrs to engage with their favourite gaming creators or celebrities through digital collectibles, chat or audio rooms, and еxclusivе cеlеbrity communities. It also lets users to engage with each other.
Gamers can collect, play and trade digital collectibles such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of their favourite esports players and content creators, through which can they win physical and virtual world experiences and rewards such as meetups or matches with their favorite players, bootcamp tours with their favourite esports teams, signed merchandise and social media interactions.
Stan has raised about $5.2 million across multiple funding rounds until now. Among its investors include General Catalyst, Bеttеr Capital, blockchain firm Aptos Labs, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes's family office Maelstrom Fund, CoinDCX Ventures, and Coinswitch Ventures. The startup counted Rathee as a founding investor. One of the co-founders Shubham Gupta left the firm in April 2024, as per his LinkedIn profile.
Stan claims to have a user base of over 12 million, of which over 500,000 are paying users, as of July 2024. The startup had an annual turnover of around Rs 15 crore for the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a jump from Rs 1 crore in FY23.
"Nazara’s investment will be a major boost for STAN, fast-tracking our journey to redefine gaming and esports communities and help us achieve our vision" said Stan CEO Parth Chadha in a statement.
Esports is the biggest vertical for Nazara Technologies, with revenues of Rs 131.9 crore in Q1-FY25, up 12 percent YoY from Rs 117.8 crore in Q1-FY24. This includes revenues from Nodwin Gaming and Absolute Sports which operates sports media brands Sportskeeda and Pro Football Network.
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