MUMBAI: Esports firm Nodwin Gaming has secured a Rs 1.64 billion minority investment from South Korean gaming firm Krafton, creators of the wildly popular PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG).
This round of funding follows previous investments from Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies Limited and from JetSynthesys Private Limited backed by Infosys Limited co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.
Aside from PUBG, Krafton, one of the top gaming companies in South Korea, is also known for TERA, Golf King and Castle Burn, among others.
Sharing the vision of their investors, Nodwin Gaming 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,organize and execute a multitude of tournament IPs at the national and international level.
“Esports will be a key pillar to the growth of sports entertainment in the future. It 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. Gautam and I, the co-founders of Nodwin Gaming, continue our journey with all of our existing investors reinforcing their faith in us,” said Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director, Nodwin Gaming.
Changhan Kim, CEO of Krafton said, “Krafton is excited to partner with Nodwin Gaming to help foster the promising esports ecosystem and engage with our fans and players in India.” He added, “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.”
Post the transaction, Nazara will continue to own a stake in excess of 50% in Nodwin Gaming. Nazara invested into Nodwin Gaming in 2018 and this investment has created a value in excess of 6.44X in three years.
