Nodwin Gaming, a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, has raised $28 million from new and existing investors in its latest funding round.
The funds will be deployed to grow the gaming and esports ecosystem by expanding newer IPs (intellectual property), growing the emerging market footprint and for strategic acquisitions that drive value to the network.
"We will continue to grow into emerging countries. The way we define emerging countries is young country that are mobile first, with high smart phone and internet penetration. Then we will look at adding capability and capacity in these emerging markets. Funds utilisation will be a mix of build and buy," Sidharth Kedia, CEO of Nodwin Gaming, told Moneycontrol.
Region-wise, the company will look at South East Asia, eastern Europe. "Our focus will be on Middle East. We are building for the world but building out of India," said Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Nodwin Gaming.
He added that the company will be investing in IPs, people and capability.
"We will look at internal transfers and also look at new positions for which we will hire domestically and internationally. In terms of acquisitions, we are looking at anything that is core to Nodwin. Any IP in gaming and sports that has been running for couple of years that is a great partner for us. Any company that is profitable business in a country we are happy to acquire that company," Rathee added.
The recent funding round saw participation from existing investors including Nazara, Krafton and JetSynthesys and among the new investors included Sony Group Corporation and Innopark.
In a stock market filing, Nazara Technologies stated that it is investing Rs 25.3 crore in primary capital and making a secondary acquisition of shares worth Rs 34.76 crore from founding shareholders such as JetSynthesys and Good Game Investment Trust. Following this deal, the diversified gaming and sports media firm will own 52.7 percent stake in Nodwin Gaming.
Nodwin last raised funds in March 2021 from South Korean gaming company Krafton at $135 million, or Rs 988 crore value, and this round values the gaming company at $325 million (Rs 2,624 crore) pre-money and $349 million post money which leads to a value accretion of 2.7X in two years, the company said.
“We have been able to exhibit a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of over 68 percent in revenue over the last two years in a tumultuous market, maintain profitability in our business and gain a global dominant position in mobile esports while delivering shareholder value," said Rathee.
He said that as the company migrates to the next phase of growth, they are focusing on building a global company.
The new funding deal was led by Sidharth Kedia and Murtaza Somjee from Jerome Merchant + Partners was the legal advisor.
Nodwin's acquisition spree
Over the past year or so, Nodwin Gaming has made a series of acquisitions and investments to expand its offerings in India and International markets.
This includes a 51 percent stake purchase in Singapore-based live events firm Branded in an all-cash deal of up to $1.3 million last month; buying the gaming and adjacent IP businesses of OML Entertainment for Rs 73 crore in September 2021, including the popular NH7 Weekender music festival; and picking up a 10.26 percent stake in digital media firm Rusk Media for Rs 10 crore in December 2021.
Nodwin Gaming also bought a 35 percent stake in gaming accessories maker Brandscale Innovations that makes high-quality and affordable gaming audio gear under the brand name Wings in April 2022 and purchased comic, pop culture and superheroes merchandising retailer Planet Superheroes for Rs 4.9 crore in January 2022.
It owns various IPs including prominent tournaments, festivals, and conferences in esports, gaming, music, comedy and live experiences that could appeal to gaming enthusiasts. It operates across multiple offices in South Asia, Singapore, Middle East and Turkey.
The esports segment, which includes Nodwin Gaming and Sportskeeda, is the biggest vertical for Nazara Technologies, accounting for about 49 percent of its FY23 revenue. Nodwin Gaming witnessed 84 percent revenue growth in FY23, the company said.
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