Zupee Expands Global Footprint With Acquisition of Australia’s Nucanon

• The acquisition is a landmark India-Australia collaboration in digital entertainment.
• It strengthens Zupee’s expansion into AI-powered interactive storytelling, extending its ecosystem beyond social gaming.
• Nucanon’s proprietary AI engine enables dynamic narratives, evolving characters and immersive, user-driven worlds.
• The move reinforces India’s growing position as a global hub for AI-led storytelling and innovation.

Zupee, India's leading social gaming and entertainment platform, today announced the acquisition of Nucanon, a Sydney-based innovator in AI-driven interactive storytelling. The strategic acquisition marks a first-of-its-kind collaboration between India and Australia in the digital entertainment sector, bringing together Zupee’s vast distribution reach and Nucanon’s breakthrough narrative AI technology.

The acquisition will help Zupee accelerate its vision of building the world’s most advanced platform for interactive story entertainment. It will create an ecosystem where creators can craft branching narratives, dynamic characters and AI-powered worlds that engage audiences at scale.

Driving the Next Phase of Entertainment Innovation

At the core of Nucanon’s innovation is a proprietary world-building AI engine that aims to redefine how stories are created and experienced. The technology allows stories to unfold naturally, adapting to every choice a user makes. Dialogues feel authentic and spontaneous, characters remember past interactions and plotlines shift in response to each decision.

The result is a story that grows and changes just like real human relationships do. Users can move freely within the world without breaking its flow or structure. Every experience feels unique and meaningful, whether expressed through text, voice or visuals. It is a system designed to make stories feel alive and responsive, turning every player into a true participant rather than a passive viewer.

Dilsher Singh Malhi, Founder and CEO of Zupee, said “At Zupee, we have always liked to push the boundaries on innovation. We're very excited about partnering with Nucanon and building the future of how humans will experience stories. For decades, we've been trapped between two worlds: the emotional depth of cinema and the agency of games. With Nucanon we want to crack something fundamental — which is not just generating content but understanding narrative causality. We believe the Pixar of the next century won’t emerge through traditional film or animation, but rather through interactive mix of Videos and Games. And we're going to build it from India for the world.”

"The holy grail of interactive entertainment is true player agency within a compelling story. This is the challenge that has stumped the industry for decades, and it's the one we were founded to solve," said Nilushanan Kulasingham, CEO of Nucanon "Our goal is to build an AI that doesn't just generate text, it understands the story. With Zupee's backing, we now have the resources to take on this challenge at scale", he added.
A new chapter for interactive entertainment

Following the acquisition, Nucanon’s founding team will lead product innovation from Zupee’s India headquarters. The company’s proprietary technology will become the foundation of a new interactive storytelling vertical within Zupee, combining the company’s scale in gaming & entertainment with cutting-edge AI and creative design.

This collaboration marks an important step in strengthening India’s position as a global hub for gaming and digital entertainment innovation. By bringing world-class technology and creative talent together under one roof, Zupee aims to build next-generation storytelling experiences from India for the world.

The company is growing its team across product, technology and design. It welcomes creators and innovators who want to shape a new era of entertainment that feels smarter, more inclusive and deeply connected to culture.

T-Hub Picks 12 Australian Startups for 1st Cohort of The Big LEAP Incubator Program to Provide Soft Landing in Indian Market

This is a twelve-month hybrid program in partnership with La Trobe University, Arrow Digital and Investible.

The selected startups will be provided support in go-to-market strategy, local market access and networking opportunities in India.

T-Hub, which leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem, today announced the selection of 12 Australian startups for the first cohort of the Big LEAP Incubator program in partnership with partnership La Trobe University, Arrow Digital, a digital marketing agency and Investible, an early-stage venture capital firm. The selected startups will be provided soft landing and enterprising opportunities in the Indian market. The program will guide and mentor the startups in the areas of go-to-market strategy, business expansion plans, local market access and networking opportunities.

The program aims to fine-tune the expansion business plans of the startups, test their ideas for the Indian market, hone their skills, and build a strong network with Indian stakeholders for their long term success. The twelve-month program with expert mentors from T-Hub and its partners will work on the startups' enhancement, growth, acceleration, and readiness. Selected startups for the program are 

1. CI Business Solutions and Analytics, 
2. AgVantage Commodities Pty Ltd,
3. Miifile Pty Ltd
4. Brane Labs Pty Ltd
5. CashD Pty Ltd,
6. Sixti
7. Next Address Pty Ltd,
8. Mist Financial Pty Ltd
9. Tech Ideaz Pty Ltd
10. New Will Tech Holdings Pty Ltd,
11. Meetmycoach pty ltd,
12. Edit on the Spot.

This hybrid program will have in-person and virtual workshops by industry experts to provide personalized mentoring and a self-service learning platform to startups. It is divided into three phases namely the Intensive phase, the Acceleration phase and the Immersion phase and a challenge at the end of each phase. The Intensive phase will comprise twelve weeks long bootcamp workshops of face-to-face and virtual sessions on go-to-market strategies, product-market fit and 1:1 business mentoring. 

The Accelerator phase of 6 months will continue with the ongoing mentoring for individual startups, with a focus on making their pitch investor-ready, along with group workshops and on-site working sessions. The last phase, Immersion Phase will include a three-week trip to India for three startups from this cohort, providing them with an opportunity to pitch their idea to potential investors and corporates. This phase will be for three months and will end with a startup showcase and pitch night event where the startups will stand a chance to raise funding.

MSR, CEO of T-Hub said, “Our collaboration with La Trobe University, Arrow Digital and Investible will help us in bridging the gap between our two high-growth markets and strengthening the network of India’s growing startup ecosystem with that of a global network. Through our robust innovation ecosystem, we aim to fine-tune the selected startups’ value propositions and provide them with a gateway to explore the Indian market. The program will provide them with an incredible networking opportunity, commercialization opportunity in India, and make them investor ready as well to raise funding. The Big LEAP program is also an exciting opportunity for our Indian entrepreneurs to connect with some of the most talented innovators from across the globe.”

Jasmine Batra, Co-founder and Managing Director at Arrow Digital said, ‘Over the past few decades, India’s uptake in the technology realm has taken big leaps, with the country now contributing significantly to the global ecosystem. The recent strategic partnership deals between the Australian and Indian governments make this an opportune time for Australian founders looking to expand internationally to explore commercialization opportunities in India. The program will shorten their route to this new & vast market and accelerate future growth”.

Cerasela Tanasescu, director, La Trobe Regional Accelerator said, “We are excited to follow these promising start-ups on their journey and look forward to share with you their development and successes.”

The selected startups will be trained by a pool of mentors and industry experts such as Jasmine Batra, Co-founder and Managing Director at Arrow Digital, Cerasela Tanasescu, Director at La Trobe University, Elisa-Marie Dumas, Head of Programs & Partnerships at Investible, and Priyanka Ravala, Senior Program Manager at T-Hub, among others. For more information about the program, visit https://t-hub.co/the-big-leap-incubator-program/.

T-Hub has provided market access to 300+ Indian startups with 18+ international interventions It has conducted more than 10 market access programs and facilitated 200+ international startups from more than 42 countries. T-Hub will continue to drive collaboration between startups and leading innovation ecosystems across the world, providing global market-access opportunities to startups. For more information about various international programs of T-Hub, visit https://t-hub.co/t-bridge-international-programs/.

T-Hub (Technology Hub) is an innovation hub and ecosystem enabler. Based out of Hyderabad, India, T-Hub leads India’s pioneering innovation ecosystem. With a mission of enabling and empowering an ecosystem hungry for innovation, T-Hub is creating an impact for startups, corporations, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders. Incorporated in 2015, it has provided over 1800 national and international startups with access to better technology, talent, mentors, customers, corporates, investors, and government agencies. It has elevated innovation for leading national and global corporations, transforming their business models for the better. Working in collaboration with innovation partners and enablers in Telangana, India and worldwide, T-Hub is building a future-ready innovation ecosystem.