iWorld
YouTube Space India names Jigisha Mistry Iyengar as head; plans year end launch
MUMBAI: For aspiring YouTube stars in India, 2015 is spelling out to be a good year. By the end of this year, Mumbai will be home to YouTube Space at Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods International (WWI), making India one of the seven in the world to have one.
The India operations of YouTube Space will be headed by Jigisha Mistry Iyengar.
The move comes in the wake of the emerging generation of YouTube creators and the growing demand for quality digital video content on the platform. As per YouTube’s internal studies, the number of watch hours on YouTube has grown by 80 per cent in India.
“Jigisha comes from a very strong background in production, both here and in the US. Apart from her, we will be collaborating with all the popular creators onboard with YouTube from all genres be it music, art comedy, news,” said YouTube Space head South Asia David McDonald, who is in Mumbai to conduct a workshop on YouTube at Celebrate Cinema 2015.
McDonald also threw light on how the launch of YouTube Space in India is going to be giant leap in inducting more YouTube creators in the country. The workshop’s key aim was to empower youngsters with the knowledge of how YouTube consumers can become creators and encourage them to seriously consider a profession as a YouTuber.
The aim of the workshop was to show creators how to build an audience as well as design relevant content for YouTube, build one’s business as a creator and the role YouTube Space in all this. Keeping that in mind, three spokesperson from YouTube addressed the audience at the workshop clarifying their doubts on content creation, audience building and monetisation respectively.
“YouTube Space will offer YouTubers a platform to build their community and network better through events, seminars, parties, ‘happy hours and workshops, at the same time facilitate for them to improve the quality of their product through better infrastructure at the Space,” McDonald said.
“The Space will be open for creators to learn connect and create. Our first goal is to foster the community of YouTube creators in India. We give them a physical community a place they can call home. Secondly, it’s to inspire better quality content on YouTube, by giving them resources like shooting studios, cameras edit labs etc. It will allow them to experiment more with what they create. We want to push the envelope of creativity through this. Frankly, a YouTube Space becomes a front door to YouTube itself. Between the industry and media, it’s a great place catch up on what YouTube does,” he added.
McDonald is confident that having YouTube Space in india will boost the number of creators here. “We have seen this in other parts of the world and I think it stands true for India as well. Specially with the growing demand,” he said.
Citing an instance from YouTube Fanfest earlier this year, he said. “There were more than 5000 fans screaming and going gaga over 33 YouTube stars, and that number has increased by multiples from the previous year. It is a win – win for the viewers, who get more creative content, the creators who have access to facilities to improve their content and advertisers to expand their reach as well. We hope the numbers keep growing,” he adds.
A lot is still under planning when it comes to accessibility of the ‘Space.’ While McDonald asserts that the workshops and networking events will be for all, the access to the studio will have certain eligibility criteria. “The seminars, workshops, happy hours and networking events are pretty much available for all those who have a YouTube channel to begin with. Our idea behind the Space is to democratise the access to these kind of facilities, which means we are a democratised platform available for everyone who wants to learn connect and create. The challenge of course is that we have finite resources in only so many studios, cameras and other equipments. At some point we have to figure what the right threshold of the access locations is,” he explains.
While some may say that this will be counter productive of the ‘democratised’ idea behind the concept of Spaces, segregating the YouTubers who have access to the facilities from those who don’t, McDonald painted a different picture. “I have seen this happen in the US. We have only two Spaces there in Los Angeles and New York. But we still have creators doing good from other parts of the country as well, and there is no preference from the viewers as such. Similar is the case with our Spaces in London. Not everyone from the UK gets access to the facilities but that doesn’t deter YouTubers from all over UK and Europe to contribute. Our goal is to have more of the Spaces and the one in Mumbai is a first step. I hope we can support more creatives from all over India. We do have events and workshops in other parts of the country as well to reach out to as many creators as possible.”
With this major push in India from YouTube, more Indian talent is soon poised to join the likes of All India Backchod (AIB), IISuperwomanII and The Viral Fever, who have become household names by showcasing their talent on this popular video platform.
Gaming
MTG gaming chief Benninghoff joins NODWIN board as esports firm primes for IPO
The Gurugram-based esports firm is pursuing a public listing, has returned to profitability and is growing revenues by 42 per cent
GURUGRAM: NODWIN Gaming is moving fast. The Gurugram-based gaming and esports company has launched a pre-IPO fundraising round, appointed UBS as lead adviser for both the round and a subsequent public listing, and landed a heavyweight board director, all in one go.
The new board member is Arnd Benninghoff, executive vice president of gaming at Stockholm-listed Modern Times Group (MTG), who has overseen the group’s strategic investments and portfolio growth since 2014. He is no stranger to building things: Benninghoff has founded and built fifteen companies, served as chief digital officer at ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, managing director of SevenVentures, and chief executive of Holtzbrinck eLAB. He began his career as a journalist at Deutsche Presse Agentur and various TV networks, holds a Diplom-Kaufmann in business and administration from the University of Münster, and previously sat on the board of Edgeware AB.
The numbers back the ambition
NODWIN is not pitching a story without substance. The company has returned to EBITDA profitability and posted a 42 per cent year-on-year revenue surge, reaching $58.5m in the first nine months of FY2026. The pre-IPO round will combine a primary issuance to fund global expansion through organic growth and acquisitions, alongside a secondary sale to give existing shareholders some liquidity.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming, said Benninghoff understands “the entire lifecycle of the gaming and media ecosystem, from the boots-on-the-ground reality of building startups to the strategic complexity of managing multi-billion dollar global portfolios.”
Benninghoff, for his part, said the company “sits at the intersection of sports, entertainment, and technology, making it one of the most exciting players in the global gaming landscape today.”
A portfolio built for the global south
Founded in 2014 by Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has quietly assembled one of the more compelling esports portfolios outside the Western hemisphere. Its properties include DreamHack India and Comic Con India, and it recently acquired StarLadder, the Ukraine-based tournament organiser behind premier events in CS:GO and Dota 2. The company also serves as a long-term strategic marketing partner for the Evolution Championship Series (EVO), the world’s most prominent fighting game tournament, helping push it into new geographies.
Its geographic focus spans South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Backers include Nazara Technologies, KRAFTON, Sony Group Corporation, JetSynthesys, and the founders’ investment vehicle Good Game Investments.
What comes next
With UBS running the books, a board freshly reinforced with European media and gaming expertise, and revenue heading in the right direction, NODWIN is laying the groundwork deliberately. The esports industry has burned investors before with big promises and thin margins. NODWIN’s return to profitability, combined with a real portfolio of owned intellectual properties across gaming, music and youth culture, gives it a more credible runway than most. The IPO clock is now ticking.
