Nazara Technologies acquires majority stake in Sportskeeda

Mobile game developer Nazara Technologies has invested around Rs 44 crore and acquired a 67% stake in Bengaluru-based digital multi-sports content platform Sportskeeda.

Sportskeeda had raised Rs 35.76 crore from Nazara Technologies in July 2019, and it was part of the current funding round.

The Mumbai-based digital gaming company said in a statement that this investment adds 25 million monthly active users, and it is closing in on 100 million monthly active users on its network.

Nazara claims to have built a strong network of companies in interactive gaming and sports media through its investments and acquisitions in various gaming categories including e-sports, fantasy sports, mobile cricket games and real money gaming among others. 

Nazara was founded in 1999 by Nitish Mittersain and has acquired mobile games across India, West Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Its projects range from value addition to distribution, while its operations comprise subscription, freemium and e-sports businesses. 

The company has invested in other mobile gaming companies in the sports vertical like Backbuck,

Mastermind Sports and Moonglabs Technologies. Nazara had taken majority stakes in Next Wave Multimedia and Nodwin Gaming last year. 

Sportskeeda was earlier backed by Seedfund, an early stage venture capital company with an investment amount of approximately Rs 6 crore in 2012.

Founded in 2009 by Srinivas Cuddapah and Porush Jain, Sportskeeda publishes content on multiple mainstream sports including football, cricket, tennis, basketball, hockey, Formula One, badminton, professional wrestling, mixed martial arts and boxing. 

“Nazara’s acquisition and investment into Sportskeeda is an important milestone in our journey. From our modest beginning as a multisport blog in 2009, we have become one of a kind sports content platform. We have our eyes set on becoming the world’s largest multi-sport platform by leveraging Nazara’s geographical reach in the sports-crazy Middle East & Africa markets,” said Jain.

“We at Nazara are building platforms for fan engagement across all aspects of sports entertainment and we believe that this move will serve a triple play offering to the 100 million strong network through content, competition and community across all emerging markets,” said Mittersain.