Initial public offering-bound mobile gaming company Nazara Technologies Ltd has picked up a minority stake in InstaSportz Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, a Bengaluru-based virtual reality (VR) gaming company.
With the acquisition, Nazara enters the offline gaming space with interactive entertainment through VR lounges in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities across India. Financial details of the transaction were, however, not disclosed.
InstaSportz, which operates state-of-the-art VR gaming kiosks, or Instazones, had partnered with India’s leading multiplex chain Carnival Cinemas Ltd to set up the kiosks at the theatres premises, besides at other premium malls and multiplexes. The start-up was founded in 2016 by Bigith Nambiar and K.R. Rahul.
Each Instazone is set up over 100 sq. ft. and offers VR experience at an affordable price point. “We aim to own the largest network of VR lounges across India and other emerging markets globally. We believe that Nazara, with its presence in 61 countries as on 30 September, will help us in expanding our presence through strategic local partnerships across emerging markets,” said InstaSportz founder Nambiar.
InstaSportz is present in Kota, City Mall Ludhiana, Silver Arc Mall in Calicut, and in Bengaluru’s HiLite Mall and Xtreme Sports Bar. The company intends to be live in over 100 towns over the next few years.
“At Nazara, we wish to offer interactive entertainment that blends sports, virtual reality and arcade gaming, thus offering an immersive gaming experience across all age groups. With this investment in Instasportz, we are pushing ourselves to offer gaming lead entertainment to the gamers across various touch points,” said Manish Agarwal, chief executive officer, Nazara Technologies.
The InstaSportz investment comes after Nazara’s investments in MasterMind Sports, Moong Labs, HalaPlay, CrimzonCode. The company had filed its draft red herring prospectus for the IPO on 31 January and received Securities and Exchange Board of India’s approval in April.
Source: Mint