Paytm's Gaming Arm in Talks to Raise $25 Million Paytm's gaming arm, Paytm First Games, is reportedly in discussion with investors to raise as much as $25 million for expansion purposes
By Bhavya Kaushal •
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Paytm's gaming arm, Paytm First Games, is reportedly in discussion with investors to raise as much as $25 million for expansion purposes. According to a media report, SAIF Partners and a Hong Kong-based entity will come on board as new investors who will allegedly participate in this round.
As the portal plans to add more games for users, the funding will be invested in its technology platform and for building e-sporting events. It also plans to double down on its current team size of over 150 people.
The gaming platform which was founded in 2018 competes with the likes of Mobile Premier League (MPL).
Paytm has been building and incepting a host of new products including Paytm Mall, the Indian unicorn's e-commerce branch.
Sudhanshu Gupta, COO, Paytm First Games, said, "The platform has grown multifold in last one year. We now have about 30 million users on our platform with half of them being monthly active users. On our paid games, people spend around INR 4,000 on games like Rummy, while the spends are to the tune of INR 400 in a fantasy league, etc."
Mobile gaming and the proliferation of smartphones, free internet access has changed the face of online gaming. The start-ups in the gaming sector are flourishing to the extent that one of them, Dream 11, became a unicorn at the beginning of this year and many more are in the race to make an ecosystem of such start-ups in India. A decade ago, nobody would have imagined that a market for online gaming exists, but today it has become the way of the world.
Paytm First Games claims to be one of the fastest-growing gaming units with a revenue run rate of $50 million. It offers a mix of free and paid games, around 300 in number including fantasy cricket, fantasy kabaddi, fantasy soccer, rummy, battle centre for games of skill, 8 ball pool, ludo, and live quiz.
