Zupee's Founder and CEO, Dilsher Singh, appears to be a joyful person. After all, his gaming company, which is based in Delhi-NCR, recently revealed that it raised USD 30 million in a Series B fundraising round at a pre-money estimate of USD 500 million.
As per industry figures, the industry would have seen over 53 billion mobile game downloads by 2020, with India accounting for 17% of the total. There will be 2.9 billion online gaming users by the end of 2021.
Zupee, a skill-based real money gaming platform, has raised $30 million in a Series B fundraising round led by WestCap Group of Silicon Valley and Tomales Bay Capital. As per the company, the present capital was raised at a $500 million valuation, a five-fold increase from January of this year.
Zupee had received $10 million at a worth of $100 million at the beginning of 2021, driven by current investors WestCap Group and Matrix Partners India. Smile Group and Orios Partners are among the investors in the latest round, which brings the startup's total funding to $49 million.
The funds will be used to enhance Zupee's product portfolio, increase its market reach, and hire worldwide talent.
The three-year-old company is an online gaming platform that offers skill-building games. Its gaming portfolio contains trivia quiz tournaments, which the business claims have witnessed over 250 million gameplays to date.
We are innovating to ensure our games provide an intersection between skill and entertainment, enabling our users to earn while they play. We thank our investors for believing in our purpose and enabling us to progress on our journey to transforming it to reality. Our journey has just begun.
Zupee's founder and CEO, Dilsher Singh, shared his thoughts.
According to Singh, the company currently has a client base of 10 million people and plans to increase that number with the new funding.
WestCap remains a key strategic investor and operating advisor to Zupee and we are increasing our interest again as part of this most recent funding round. This funding will enable the Zupee team to invest further in innovation, expand its suite of games and aggressively pursue international expansion. The company has exponentially accelerated its growth over the last 12 months.
Founder and managing partner of WestCap, an early investor in Zupee, Laurence A. Tosi stated.
The Indian internet gaming industry is predicted to expand 113 percent to 290 billion (or nearly $3.91 billion) by 2025, up from 136 billion (roughly $1.83 billion) in FY21, as per a report by consultancy firm KPMG. According to the research, these gaming platforms are likely to attract 657 million users during the period, up from 433 million today.
The worldwide online gaming business is expected to increase from USD 98 billion in 2020 to USD 272 billion in 2030, as per industry forecasts. As per market figures, the industry would have seen over 53 billion mobile game downloads globally by 2020, with India accounting for 17% of the total. According to predictions, there will be 2.9 billion online gamers globally by the end of 2021.
Silicon Valley-based WestCap Group and Tomales Bay Capital co-led this round of fundraising, with Matrix Partners India joining onboard. This round comes just six months after the firm raised USD 100 million in its Series A round, representing a more than 5x rise in the company's capitalization.
Zupee currently has a user base of over 10 million people, with total monies raised already totaling USD 49 million. This fresh amount of capital will be used to help the company scale up its product line, increase its market reach, and hire international talent.
Zupee comes up with new ways by re-engineering tried-and-true games to improve skill, joy, and hope. Several popular board games include novel gaming formats in the company's repertoire. The company's flagship gaming app, which has over 250 million downloads, offers live trivia quiz events.
Internet real gaming businesses in India, particularly those focused on fantasy sports, rummy, and poker, are facing an increasingly difficult legal landscape, with numerous states declaring blanket bans on their activities.