The deal is valued at INR 10.01 Cr
Nazara said NODWIN will acquire the equity stake in Brandscale Innovations (Wings’ parent) by subscribing 567 equity shares
NODWIN aims to scale up and strengthen its retail presence and accelerate its direct-to-consumer approach for the gaming and esports audiences in India
Gaming and sports company Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary NODWIN Gaming has acquired a 35% stake, valued at INR 10.01 Cr, in gaming accessories brand Wings, owned by Brandscale Technologies.
In a regulatory filing on April 19, Nazara said that NODWIN will acquire the equity stake in Brandscale Innovations by subscribing 567 equity shares. The consideration would be paid in cash.
Through this association, NODWIN aims to scale up and strengthen its retail presence and accelerate its direct-to-consumer approach for the gaming and esports audiences in India, it said in a statement.
It plans to roll out a custom series of gaming headphones themed around popular Indian gaming and esports talents and influencers under NODWIN Gaming’s umbrella and popular esports organisations in the country.
“We believe that Wings and NODWIN Gaming share multiple synergies; be it our influencers, our tournament IPs sponsorship, or our gamer community businesses,” said Akshat Rathee, cofounder and Managing Director at NODWIN Gaming. “This investment will hopefully fill in the gap created by the huge demand for customised earbuds and headphones among the gaming and esports community.”
The deal is expected to close in a month.
Nishit Sharma founded Wings in 2018 and Vijay Venkateswaran joined him as a cofounder in 2021. Its gaming accessories include gaming earbuds and neckbands, with product expansion planned into headphones, keyboards, soundbars, speakers and mice. It sells products online on ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, and its own website.
On the other hand, NODWIN works on esports entertainment as the core value offering to fans, publishers and brands across its various IPs.
Recently, NODWIN entered into a partnership with video games developer Gameloft to create opportunities for brands and gamers to engage around the Asphalt Racing IPs.
Separately, Nazara recently acquired a 33% stake in advertising technology firm Datawrkz.
Gaming Scene In India
The Indian esports market is expected to reach $175 Mn in terms of aggregated revenue by 2023, according to an Inc42 plus analysis.
The popularity of games such as PUBG Mobile, Clash of Clans and others has brought esports to the mainstream in India.
As per a 2021 KPMG report, the number of online gamers in India grew to about 400 Mn by mid-2020 from about 250 Mn in 2018, making it the second-largest base of online gamers after China. To that end, the report said that the country’s online gaming market is expected to reach about $3.9 Bn by 2025.
Availability of high-speed internet, penetration of internet and smartphones in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, ease of using digital payment methods such as UPI and the pandemic-led habit transformation are some of the major push factors driving the gaming industry in the country.
According to an Inc42 report, the growth of India’s gaming industry will likely be dominated by players such as Dream11, the country’s first gaming unicorn, Mobile Premier League (from the soonicorn club) and Nazara (from the IPO club) and more.
New startups are also emerging in the gaming market and bagging big investments. Bengaluru-based gaming startup Glip raised $3 Mn in its Pre-Series A round led by Prime Venture Partners last week.
Earlier this month, hypersocial gaming startup Bombay Play raised $7 Mn in its Series A investment round led by Kalaari Capital.
Bengaluru-based online gaming startup OWN also received $2 Mn in a seed funding round from Better Capital, Polygon Studios, Cloud Capital and Indigg this month, and it plans to launch its NFT-based play-to-earn game on crypto markets by next month.
