Mobile game developer and publisher Nazara Technologies is planning to raise close to Rs 480-640 crore or $75-$100 million which will be mandated by investment bank Credit Suisse. This will be one of the largest capital fund raiser in the Indian gaming industry which is still at an early stage.
The gaming firm plans to utilise the funds to hire the game programmers and designers from across the globe along with expanding and investing heavily to acquire gaming start-ups.
“In next one year we plan to invest in 10-12 start-ups with the focus on the companies who have good set-up be it their games in the beta stage or just a good concept. We look at the studios and the games from a lot of different perspective like game design, the uniqueness, the UI/UX and the polish of the game,” said Nazara Technologies CEO Nitish Mittersain.
Nazara which started out in the year 2000 has been behind a slew of games like Cricket Batting Challenge, along with movie based games like Bang Bang and recently Bombay Velvet had earlier raised a funding worth $5 million from Westbridge Capital.
With the advent of the smartphones, the country set to takeover United States in the sales of smarthphones in the next two year and the number is set to reach close to 650 million. The gaming industry in the country has seen a resurrection with more and more companies starting out with their own ventures.
As per a KPMG and FICCI report, mobile gaming is expected to touch Rs 2,620 crore by 2019, with a year-on-year growth of 20 per cent over the next five years. Some of the factors fuelling this growth are the innovative game being developed to appeal various age groups, low cost data plans and inexpensive game charges. These factors coupled with the popularity of Indian movies, makes movie themed mobile games one of the easiest way to connect with audiences today.
Nazara Technologies generated Rs 150 crore in the fiscal year 2015 and is looking to pursue more acquisitions looking for the start-ups with games, team and scale in terms of revenue.