On Monday, WinZo, the largest mobile gaming platform in India, announced that they had raised $5 million in Series A funding from two primary sources. According to the release, Kalaari Capital and Hike are the leading investors that provided the funding.
WinZO is the vision of co-founders Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, who have brought together over 30 games across multiple platforms to provide an innovative platform for users. “WinZO’s social multi-player skill gaming platform is a one-stop entertainment destination for Bharat. We have been receiving phenomenal traction, and are very excited to emerge as India’s most loved household brand for the next 100 million users,” explained Nanda.
WinZO has risen to become the leading platform in India for esports. They have provided such games as 8-ball pool, Sniper 3D, Bubble Shooter, and Knife Up, as well as provide trivia based games and fantasy leagues, all while offering these games in 10 different languages. Each of the games has some kind of monetary system attached, making WinZo a great destination for play and wagering.
The platform has been quite successful. According to the company, they currently have over 7 million registered users across Tier 2/3/4/5 cities. Users, according to the company, spend an average of about 55 minutes on the application every day. Some are spending as much as 60% of the total time on their smartphone on the WinZO application according to the company.
While having a great deal of success, looking to expand their operations. WinZO announced last week that they had provided $1.5 million in funding to support game developers as well as to help acquire content for their platform. Part of this money was to be used to help develop content provided by local developers.
Hike has been looking to expand operations and make a vertical move into the gaming industry. The partnership with WinZO appears to be the perfect match in helping them to achieve that goal. “Gaming to us has always been a new, bite-sized source of entertainment for the masses. As we unbundle Hike, we think of our investment in WinZO and its stellar team as a strong bet in the segment,” said Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder, and CEO of Hike.
Kalaari Capital has already invested in one fantasy sports platform, Dream11. They also look at this as a partnership that makes sense, especially considering the reputation that WinZO has garnered.
“WinZO’s team has achieved a strong product-market fit and is all set to disrupt the vernacular entertainment space. We led company’s seed round early last year, and are highly impressed with the team’s growth trajectory and strong execution,” said Rahul Garg, principal at Kalaari Capital.
