Listed gaming giant Nazara Technologies has announced plans to continue its acquisition binge by investing in kids’ play centre company Funky Monkeys and edtech Learntube.ai, as well as acquiring a larger stake in three of its subsidiaries: Nodwin, Sportskeeda’s parent company Absolute Sport, and adtech Datawrkz. The investment will strengthen “its position in the gaming and entertainment ecosystems,” according to a statement from Nazara.
Nazara will subscribe for optionally convertible preference shares in order to invest INR 64 Cr in its esports subsidiary Nodwin. This is intended to help the gaming subsidiary grow and improve its intellectual property. It is important to remember that Nodwin is one of Nazara’s main sources of income.
Details of Further Investments
Nazara announced that it would spend INR 69 Cr to buy shares that resulted from Sportskeeda employees exercising their ESOPs. This will make it a completely owned subsidiary and raise its ownership position in Absolute to 100%. By subscribing to its mandatory convertible cumulative preference shares (CCPS), the business would spend INR 15 Cr in its adtech subsidiary. In 2022, it purchased a 33% share in Datawrkz. For INR 43.7 Cr, Nazara is purchasing a 60% share in the chain of indoor play centres. Funky Monkeys Play Centres, which was founded in 2012 by Binita Putcha and Sanjay Ghadiali, operates 11 locations around India and bills itself as the industry leader in indoor play centres for children.
According to its founders, the acquisition will enable synergies with Nazara’s digital intellectual property, namely Kiddopia. For a 4.7% share in the AI-powered edtech platform, Nazara will invest INR 4.2 Cr. In October of last year, Learntube, formerly known as CareerNinja, obtained initial commitments from investors such as Blitzscaling Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and Bisk Ventures as part of its larger $2 million seed round. It’s unclear if the Nazara funding is included in the seed funding round as well. Learntube is a platform driven by artificial intelligence that combines gamification and individualised instruction to create an engaging educational experience.
Nazara’s First AI Investment
Nitish Mittersain, the CEO of Nazara, stated in a LinkedIn post that the Learntube investment will be the company’s first AI investment. According to Mittersain, Nazara is dedicated to creating the most diverse gaming and entertainment platform in India, and many of the efforts it unveiled on December 2nd are intended to spur profitable growth in these key areas of the business’ focus. The announcement of the financing follows Nazara’s November 27 private placement transaction, in which it raised INR 855 Cr ($101.3 Mn). The financing included participation from investors such as SBI Mutual Fund, Aamara Capital, and Mithun Sacheti, the founder of Caratlane.
Nazara Expanding its Nexus
The business subsequently stated that it intended to use the funds to finance corporate expansion, make strategic acquisitions, and improve the company’s capacity to grasp fresh growth prospects. Nazara said on November 29 that it has acquired Trinity Gaming, a gaming agency and platform, for INR 24 Cr ($2.8 Mn), shortly after obtaining the new funding. Notably, during its 2024 acquisition binge, the corporation acquired shares in Pokerbaazi, Paperboat, STAN, Fusebox, Ninja Global FZCO, Freaks 4U, and Circle of Games. Nazara’s consolidated net profit for the September quarter of the current fiscal year (Q2 FY25) was INR 16.24 Cr, which is 33% less than the INR 24.18 Cr it made in the same period last fiscal year.
Nitin Konde
