eSports Gaming Startup GamingMonk Raises ₹4 Cr from Japan's Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan and Others

GamingMonk, an eSports gaming company based out of New Delhi, has raised ₹4 crore (~ US$543,000) in its second round of funding from Japan-based Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan, VP, Google India & South East Asia, reported Gizbot.

Other investors which participated in this round include Stellaris Ventures, Smile Group, AdvantEdge and Samir Khurana. GamingMonk had earlier raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from AdvantEdge Partners, an early stage venture capital fund, in July 2017.

The new infusion of funds will help the startup to achieve its vision of providing a smooth, transparent and credible gaming platform for all the players.

Founded in 2014, by Abhay Sharma and Ashwin Haryani, GamingMonk is focused on online and offline tournaments of competitive games across platforms such as Mobile, Console and PC.

GamingMonk was initially started as an e-commerce marketplace for consoles, gaming titles and other accessories, thereafter in August 2017 the startup launched its online eSports Portal and eventually pivoted to become a leading online esports company with a focus on building a community and provide authentic and relevant content to gamers.

Abhay Sharma, Co-Founder of GamingMonk said in a statement, “India is at the cusp of massive online gaming adoption with an exponential increase in players and funding in this sector. We are focussed on building a top-notch gaming experience for the esports enthusiasts and the community, in which players can thrive, improve their skills and become top competitors at an international level."

Ashwin Haryani, the other Co-Founder, said, "We want to focus on not just the enthusiast gamers but also build an ecosystem which brings more casual and semi-pro players on all three platforms - PC, console and mobile gaming. We are seeing a lot of interest from investors and are in discussions with some strategic players both in India and overseas for our next round of funding."

"A big announcement is expected in the coming few months," he said.

The GamingMonk platform currently have 2 verticals - Offline Tournaments & an Online eSports Portal. Offline tournaments are held across India covering 8 cities so far with an expansion plan of covering 16 cities by next year.

The company has organised more than 200 competitive tournaments across the country with 35000 participants. The platform hosts tournaments on games such as PUBG, CS: GO, DOTA 2, FIFA game series, Call of Duty Series, Clash Royale and many more.

The rise of smartphone users and wider consumer trends are contributing to the growth of online gaming trends in India. According to a study by KPMG, Indian online gaming industry will add 190 million gamers and become a US $1 billion opportunity by 2021.

In June this year, tech giant Google had launched a training programme for gaming startups and developers in South-East Asia including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to successfully build, scale, launch and market the next generation of hit mobile games.

Just today itself, global sports tech fund, ADvantage, has announced that it is looking out for startups in India for investment opportunities.

In August, former Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni picked up 25% stake in Run Adam, a 360 degree sports Tech-Ecosystem. The platform has been created with a vision to help aspiring sportsperson to hone their talent and help them in their professional journey.

[Top Image - Facebook.com/GamingMonk]

eSports Gaming Startup GamingMonk Raises ₹4 Cr from Japan's Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan and Others

GamingMonk, an eSports gaming company based out of New Delhi, has raised ₹4 crore (~ US$543,000) in its second round of funding from Japan-based Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan, VP, Google India & South East Asia, reported Gizbot.

Other investors which participated in this round include Stellaris Ventures, Smile Group, AdvantEdge and Samir Khurana. GamingMonk had earlier raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from AdvantEdge Partners, an early stage venture capital fund, in July 2017.

The new infusion of funds will help the startup to achieve its vision of providing a smooth, transparent and credible gaming platform for all the players.

Founded in 2014, by Abhay Sharma and Ashwin Haryani, GamingMonk is focused on online and offline tournaments of competitive games across platforms such as Mobile, Console and PC.

GamingMonk was initially started as an e-commerce marketplace for consoles, gaming titles and other accessories, thereafter in August 2017 the startup launched its online eSports Portal and eventually pivoted to become a leading online esports company with a focus on building a community and provide authentic and relevant content to gamers.

Abhay Sharma, Co-Founder of GamingMonk said in a statement, “India is at the cusp of massive online gaming adoption with an exponential increase in players and funding in this sector. We are focussed on building a top-notch gaming experience for the esports enthusiasts and the community, in which players can thrive, improve their skills and become top competitors at an international level."

Ashwin Haryani, the other Co-Founder, said, "We want to focus on not just the enthusiast gamers but also build an ecosystem which brings more casual and semi-pro players on all three platforms - PC, console and mobile gaming. We are seeing a lot of interest from investors and are in discussions with some strategic players both in India and overseas for our next round of funding."

"A big announcement is expected in the coming few months," he said.

The GamingMonk platform currently have 2 verticals - Offline Tournaments & an Online eSports Portal. Offline tournaments are held across India covering 8 cities so far with an expansion plan of covering 16 cities by next year.

The company has organised more than 200 competitive tournaments across the country with 35000 participants. The platform hosts tournaments on games such as PUBG, CS: GO, DOTA 2, FIFA game series, Call of Duty Series, Clash Royale and many more.

The rise of smartphone users and wider consumer trends are contributing to the growth of online gaming trends in India. According to a study by KPMG, Indian online gaming industry will add 190 million gamers and become a US $1 billion opportunity by 2021.

In June this year, tech giant Google had launched a training programme for gaming startups and developers in South-East Asia including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to successfully build, scale, launch and market the next generation of hit mobile games.

Just today itself, global sports tech fund, ADvantage, has announced that it is looking out for startups in India for investment opportunities.

In August, former Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni picked up 25% stake in Run Adam, a 360 degree sports Tech-Ecosystem. The platform has been created with a vision to help aspiring sportsperson to hone their talent and help them in their professional journey.

[Top Image - Facebook.com/GamingMonk]

eSports Gaming Company GamingMonk Raises Funding from AdvantEdge

GamingMonk, a pioneering eSports gaming company in India has recently joined hands with AdvantEdge and raised funds to launch its subscription based eSports portal. GamingMonk started out as an E-commerce marketplace to sell consoles, gaming titles and other gaming accessories, but had pivoted last year to become India’s largest offline eSports competitive event organizer.

As an eSports company, GamingMonk has become India’s largest player having organized over 40 offline competitive tournaments across the country with over 15,000 participants. They have partnered with leading global brands such as Sony, Microsoft, HP, Amazon, Nvidia and Mountain Dew.

With the recent fund infusion from AdvantEdge, the company launched India’s first online subscription based eSports platform and is hosting regular tournaments for FIFA, CS-GO, DOTA2, Clash Royale, Rocket League, amongst others. The platform caters to the Indian online gaming industry expected to reach $1 billion by 2012 with 310 million gamers.

Speaking on the occasion, Abhay Sharma, Co-founder of GamingMonk said, “We have a customer base of over twenty thousand active gamers consisting of mostly students and young professionals. These gamers usually engage in gaming for its competitive nature and social interaction, something our offline events cater to. We have partnered with AdvantEdge to bring this same competitive spirit online and reduce the geographic barriers for the gamers and allow them to compete for cash prizes and pro points.” The company has launched the GamingMonk Championship Series and is targeting over 60,000 participants across 65 offline tournaments in six cities and 435 events online in the coming year.

Kunal Khattar, Partner at AdvantEdge said “Having established itself as the leading offline eSports brand, GamingMonk continues to lead the revolution with the launch of its ePortal, allowing millennia’s to play competitively from the comfort of their homes. The team has deep insights of the customer segment and tremendous brand recognition within the gamer community and we look forward to working with them to unlock the full potential of eSports in India.”

Moving forward, GamingMonk hints at a disruptive eSports league model currently under development, which is being built on top of the operational offline and online platforms that is already India’s largest active gaming community. The planned league has big names from bollywood, cricketers and the gaming industry looking to come on board.

When asked the future plans for GamingMonk, Ashwin Haryani the Co-Founder had this to say, “We are already getting significant inbound interest for our next round of funding and are also in discussions with some strategic players both here in India and overseas. A big announcement is expected towards the end of this year.”

The next few months will lay down a pedestal for the Indian eSports industry, redefining it from scratch as a globally recognized eSports League. And GamingMonk already has a significant head start over others and will continue to build out on the platform by continuing to be true to the gamers that constitute their core customer base.