WinZO Gets $18 Million In Series B Round Singapore-based Makers Fund and New York's Courtside Ventures led the investment round
By Debarghya Sil •
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Indian vernacular gaming platform WinZO on Thursday announced that it has raised $18 million in Series B Round which was led by Singapore-based Makers Fund and New York's Courtside Ventures. Both the investors are making their entry to India through Winzo.
Revant Bhate, FinAdvantage, Indigo Edge (exclusive advisor to WinZO), and Co-founder Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore also joined the round.
The company will utilize the fresh capital to strengthen its content pipeline, captivate mobile-first consumers and their gaming needs. It aims to become the go-to gaming app for the country.
Founded in 2018 by Paavan Nanda and Saumya Singh Rathore, WinZO partners with third-party game studios to host their games on the Android app, thus enabling users to enjoy multiplayer formats with their friends or strangers in a localized fashion. WinZO's platform is currently available in 12 languages with over 25 million registered players. The platform currently offers over 70 games in multiplayer formats and clocks over 1 billion micro-transaction per month.
It has grown by 1,500 per cent and has acquired over 20 million users in the past 12 months.
Commenting on the latest development, Paavan Nanda, co-founder WinZO, said, "With Series B funding, we are thrilled and humbled to welcome like-minded business partners into our WinZO family. Along with their network, support and fresh financing, we are confident we can propel WinZO even further as a business and become an even more lovable product for our customers. It's time to put all the learnings and experiences of the past toward building something huge."
Based out of Singapore, Makers Fund focuses on investing in companies engaged with interactive entertainment. The venture capital till date has made 30 investments across North America, Europe and Asia.
On the funding, Michael Cheung, partner at Makers Fund, said, "WinZO is at the heart of India's gaming evolution, a geography we've been tracking for some time. Paavan and Saumya's success through a hyper-focus on their player ecosystem is evident, and a clear asset as they accelerate their growth."
Rahul Garg, principal at Kalaari Capital, said, "Mobile gaming is a large opportunity in India, and in a short span of time, WinZO has built a high quality vernacular gaming platform for the masses. We are really proud of their progress & their superior metrics (retention, time spent, etc.) that are a true reflection of customer experience. We are very excited to partner with Makers and Courtside in the next leg of WinZO's journey and bring superior entertainment to the next 200M gamers."
Kalaari Capital led WinZO's Series A round in 2019.
