Esports firm Nodwin Gaming has raised Rs164 crore in equity investment from South Korean gaming firm Krafton which has picked up a minority stake in the company. Krafton is best known for intellectual properties and games such as PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG), TERA, Golf King, Castle Burn among others.
This is Nodwin’s third round of funding as it has already raised funds from Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies Limited and from JetSynthesys Private Limited, backed by Infosys Limited co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.
“Esports sits at a wonderful intersection of sports, entertainment and technology where nations such as India can pave the path. With Krafton coming on board, we have an endorsement from the mecca of gaming and esports – South Korea, on what we are building from India for the world based on our competence in mobile first markets…” said Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director, Nodwin Gaming.
The company intends to channelize these funds to accelerate the development of esports in South Asia, Middle East and Africa, support talent, provide better gaming infrastructure and technology and conceptualise, organise and execute a multitude of tournament IPs at the national and international level.
“Krafton is excited to partner with Nodwin Gaming to help foster the promising esports ecosystem and engage with our fans and players in India,” said Changhan Kim, CEO of Krafton. “Taking the momentum from this partnership, we will explore additional investment opportunities in the region to uphold our commitment and dedication in cultivating the local video game, esports, entertainment, and tech industries.”
Nazara Technologies, which invested in Nodwin Gaming in 2018, will continue to own over 50% stake.
Manish Agarwal, CEO, Nazara Technologies said, “Nazara has been an early and strong believer in the potential of esports to disrupt the sports entertainment market and we believe this partnership between Krafton and the Nazara group will accelerate the growth of esports and open doors for collaboration between Indian and Korean gaming companies in future.”
Founded in 2014, Nodwin Gaming is an independent subsidiary of mobile gaming company Nazara Technologies. It creates IPs, content and tournaments in partnership with global publishers and partners including ESL (formerly known as Electronic Sports League), Valve, Krafton, Tencent, Riot and Blizzard.
The company introduced Indians to some esports experiences such as the India Premiership along with other IPs such as the gaming festival Dreamhack, global championship ESL One, PUBG Mobile esports. The company has content partnerships with broadcasters such as MTV on linear TV, Disney+ Hotstar, YouTube and Airtel.