Game developer Nazara acquires majority stake in Paper Boat Apps

Mobile game developer Nazara Technologies on Thursday said that it has completed its acquisition of 51% stake in Mumbai-based Paper Boat Apps, the holding company of preschool edutainment platform Kiddopia.

The company issued shares worth Rs 43 crore ($5.72 million at current exchange rates) in the final tranche of the transaction, a statement said.

“This investment from Nazara has helped us focus on product enhancement and marketing, leading to a three-time growth in subscriber base. We have just finished our best month and expect our top line to grow two times in annual revenues by March 2021,” Anupam Dhanuka, co-founder and CEO of Kiddopia, said. 

The latest capital infusion is part of the Rs 83 crore ($11.7 million as per exchange rates at the time) the company had pledged to invest in November last year for a majority stake in Paper Boat Apps at a pre-money valuation of $21.52 million.

Kiddopia, which claims to have witnessed over 300% revenue growth, said it has an annualised revenue run rate of over Rs 175 crore. 

Founded in 2013 Anupam Dhanuka and his wife Anshu Dhanuka, Kiddopia uses interactive games and activities to foster cognitive development, self expression and social-emotional learning. The app has been downloaded more than 5 million times and currently has over 3,00,000 active subscribers, the company said.  

Nazara became a majority stakeholder in fantasy platform Halaplay Technologies last month and in Delhi-based video game developer Sports Unity in September.

“Gamified edtech is the only way to deliver high quality learning to young kids on digital devices. Kiddopia is a perfect example of this overlap between gaming and learning and their popularity among parents and kids speaks for itself. Nazara is very happy to add Kiddopia to our portfolio catering to over 100 million monthly active users on our network,” Nitish Mittersain, founder and managing director of Nazara Technologies, said.

Read: Gaming startup Nazara reports sharp jump in FY19 profits despite muted growth

Founded in 1999, Mumbai-based Nazara now has operations in 64 countries, including Singapore, Dubai, Mauritius and Africa. Its portfolio includes companies in the free-to-play mobile games, real money skill gaming, esports and gaming subscription services segments.