Who are Nazara Technologies's investors?

Nazara Technologies's investors include Kae Capital.

Nazara Technologies

Public · 9 known investors

Find your way into Nazara Technologies

Indian listed gaming company operating in mobile games, esports, gamified learning, sports media and adtech.

Also known as Nazara Tech · Nazara Technologies Limited · Nazara.com

Investors · 9

Kae CapitalBengaluru · $500K – $32M

Also in the syndicate · 8

Aamara CapitalChartered Finance and LeasingCohesion InvestmentsDiscovery InvestmentsJunomoneta FinsolMithun SachetiRatnabali InvestmentsSiddhartha Sacheti

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Nazara Technologies is a Mumbai-headquartered Indian video game and interactive entertainment company founded by Nitish Mittersain in 1999 as an online gaming portal (established as Nazara.com on 8 December 1999). It operates across several verticals: mobile and freemium gaming, esports, gamified early learning, sports media and advertising technology. Its portfolio and subsidiaries include WildWorks, Nextwave Multimedia (World Cricket Championship), Paper Boat Apps/Kiddopia, Sportskeeda (Absolute Sports), Nodwin Gaming, Fusebox Games, Curve Games, Datawrkz, Smaaash Entertainment and Funky Monkeys Play Center. Known titles associated with the group include World Cricket Championship, Kiddopia, Animal Jam Classic, Motu Patlu Run, King of Thieves and CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars.

The company shifted in 2002 from a portal model to mobile entertainment value-added services for telecom operators, distributing WAP content, comics and mobile games, and built early likeness and licensing partnerships with Archie Comics, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Cartoon Network. It later became the licensed digital distributor of EA Mobile games in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and licensed properties such as Chhota Bheem (Green Gold Animations, 2015) and Tinkle characters (Amar Chitra Katha, 2016). Nazara serves emerging markets including India, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Nazara listed on the NSE and BSE in March 2021. Growth has been driven substantially by acquisitions and strategic investments across gaming studios, esports, sports media, adtech and gamified learning. In 2026 the company agreed to acquire Spain-based Bluetile Games and BestPlay Systems — initially a 50% controlling stake for $100.3 million, later revised to 100% of both entities for $303.02 million — its largest transaction to date, and appointed Bluetile founder Raymond A. Stauffer as CEO with effect from 1 September 2026, with founder Nitish Mittersain continuing as managing director.

Founding story

Nitish Mittersain, who began coding games at age seven and studied at Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, founded Nazara in Mumbai in 1999 as an online casual games portal, shortly before the dotcom bust. The company survived the crash and pivoted in 2002 to mobile entertainment value-added services for telecom operators. An early brand-building move was signing cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to an exclusive three-year contract in 2005, which helped secure telecom partnerships and a $1.5 million investment from Westbridge Capital.

Business model

Nazara operates a diversified, acquisition-led platform model, holding majority or controlling stakes in operating companies across gaming, esports, sports media, gamified learning and adtech, under what the company has described as a 'Friends of Nazara' approach of organic growth combined with strategic partnerships and acquisitions. Revenue is generated by the gaming segment (the largest contributor), adtech and esports.

Revenue is derived from mobile game monetisation (including freemium titles and subscription-based gamified learning apps such as Kiddopia), telecom value-added-service subscriptions, esports events and media, sports media advertising via Sportskeeda, and advertising technology services including in-game advertising and mobile ad campaign delivery and measurement.

Traction

Q3 FY26 operating revenue of Rs 405.9 crore (down 24% year-on-year) with net profit of Rs 8.8 crore, with gaming at Rs 256.9 crore, adtech at Rs 115.4 crore and esports at Rs 33.9 crore. In Q1 FY27 (quarter ended 30 June 2026) revenue was Rs 428.77 crore, down 14% year-on-year, with a consolidated net loss of Rs 82.47 crore; gaming revenue rose 14% to Rs 275 crore and adtech rose 19% to Rs 126 crore, while esports fell to Rs 28 crore after the deconsolidation of Nodwin Gaming. FY24 revenue was Rs 1,138 crore with net income of Rs 89 crore.

Latest developments

In March 2026 Nazara announced its largest deal to date, a 50% controlling stake in Spain-based Bluetile Games and BestPlay Systems for $100.3 million, and a Rs 500 crore preferential warrant issue at Rs 260 per warrant to fund acquisitions. In August 2026 it reported a Q1 FY27 consolidated net loss of Rs 82.47 crore, announced that founder Nitish Mittersain would step down as CEO from 1 September 2026 while remaining managing director, appointed Bluetile founder and ex-Google executive Raymond A. Stauffer as CEO, and revised the Bluetile/BestPlay deal to a 100% all-cash acquisition for $303.02 million. The board also approved up to Rs 9.9 crore of additional investment in Funky Monkeys Play Center (raising its stake to about 68.1%) and an unsecured loan of up to Rs 24 crore to Smaaash Entertainment.

▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies

Market position

Described as India's only listed gaming company and one of the country's most prominent gaming and sports media groups, an early entrant in Indian esports and cricket simulation games.

A diversified multi-vertical portfolio built through acquisitions rather than a single-title dependency, combined with a stated focus on sustained profitability and retaining entrepreneurial ownership culture within acquired portfolio companies.

Technology

In-house game development and content production, game engine development and a technology stack spanning mobile game titles, esports platforms, gamified learning applications, and advertising technology for developing, deploying, targeting and monitoring campaigns on mobile networks and in-game inventory.

Go-to-market

Distribution through app stores and telecom operator channels, licensing of well-known entertainment IP (cricketers, comics and animation characters) for mobile titles, sports and esports media properties, and acquisition of established studios and platforms in India, Europe and North America.

Mobile gamers and esports audiences, children and parents for gamified early learning products, sports and esports media readers, and advertisers/brands buying mobile and in-game advertising; historically also telecom operators distributing mobile content.

Geography

Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, with operations and subsidiaries serving India, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, plus entities in the UK (Fusebox Games, Curve Games, Nazara UK), the US (WildWorks, Sportskeeda Inc. in Delaware, Pro Football Network), Turkey/West Asia (Publishme, Ninja Global), Singapore (Branded) and Spain (Bluetile Games, BestPlay Systems).

History

Founded in 1999 in Mumbai; pivoted to telecom mobile VAS in 2002; expanded into the Middle East and Africa and became licensed distributor of EA Mobile games in those and South Asian markets; licensed Chhota Bheem (2015) and Tinkle characters (2016). It acquired a majority stake in Nextwave Multimedia and 55% of Nodwin Gaming in 2018; a planned 2018 IPO was halted after regulatory approval. In 2019 it bought 67% of Sportskeeda for Rs 44 crore and 51% of Paper Boat Apps (Kiddopia) for Rs 83.5 crore. It listed on the NSE and BSE in March 2021 and acquired OpenPlay for Rs 186 crore the same year; in 2022 it bought 55% of adtech firm Datawrkz for Rs 124 crore and US-based WildWorks for $10.4 million. In 2023 it joined the All India Gaming Federation as a principal member. In 2024 it acquired Comic Con India for Rs 55 crore via Nodwin, Fusebox Games for $27.2 million, a 47.7% stake in Moonshine Technology (PokerBaazi) for Rs 832 crore, and additional stakes in Absolute Sports and Kiddopia. In 2025 it bought King of Thieves and CATS: Crash Arena Turbo Stars from Zeptolab for $7.7 million, acquired Smaaash Entertainment and UK publisher Curve Games, sold its 94.85% stake in OpenPlay Technologies to Moonshine Technology, and de-subsidiarised Nodwin Gaming in August 2025.

Risks & controversies

Reported financial volatility, including a 24% year-on-year revenue decline in Q3 FY26 and a Rs 82.47 crore consolidated net loss in Q1 FY27 that included a Rs 22 crore impairment loss and Rs 62 crore of losses from associate companies. Revenue comparability has been affected by the deconsolidation of Nodwin Gaming after the stake reduction in August 2025. The acquisition-heavy strategy and large cash consideration for Bluetile/BestPlay concentrate execution and integration risk; the warrant issue remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Timeline · 22

launches, deals, and filings

Aug 2026

Revised terms: 100% all-cash acquisition of Bluetile Games and BestPlay Systems for $303.02 million

Nazara's board approved revised commercial terms to acquire 100% of the share capital of Bluetile Games and BestPlay Systems for an aggregate fixed cash consideration of $303.02 million (about Rs 2,909 crore), replacing the earlier structure that included a share component.

$303M source ↗