Mobile gaming startup Gamepind, a joint venture of India’s leading digital payments platform Paytm and Hong Kong-based gaming and entertainment company AGTech Holdings, has raised ₹110 crores from Paytm’s parent One97 Communications, along with Alibaba-owned AGTech Holdings. The funds raised will be used to expand its operations in India.
Gamepind also announced the appointment of former Paytm executive Sudhanshu Gupta as its Chief Operating Officer. Sudhanshu Gupta was a part of the core team that developed Paytm marketplace. He will be overseeing the operations for the mobile gaming platform as the startup scales its technology.
Gamepind was launched in January this year, with an aim to target the casual mobile gamers. AGTech holds a 45% stake, while One97 owns 55% stake in the gaming startup. It offers real money on winning a variety of social and casual games, along with loyalty rewards for its users.
The game is available within the Paytm app as well as independently. A separate app for the game will be launched within the next six months as it looks to expand its outreach. The startup also claims to have garnered 3 million active users on its gaming platform within the seven months of launch.
Sudhanshu Gupta, Chief Operating Officer of Gamepind, said, “With the penetration of smartphones and mobile internet, gaming is poised to become a multi-billion-dollar opportunity in India and I feel very excited to be a part of this journey. We will invest in building a platform to offer exciting and rewarding games for our users.”
According to a Google KPMG report in May 2017, the Indian gaming industry is set to touch $1 billion by 2021 from $360 million currently. Paytm is looking to tap into this growing industry as it increases consumer engagement to expand its product offering. This partnership with AGTech will provide them with the experience and technology to enable its goals.
