Gaming
Stanfest to bring Ashish Chanchlani, Fukra Insaan and 200 more creators
Mumbai: Stan has announced India’s biggest creator gathering, “Stanfest 2024”. The upcoming event on 24 November 2024 at Phoenix Palassio Courtyard, Lucknow, features a lineup of over 200+ creators attending from different genres like Lifestyle, gaming, music, comedy, motovloggers,sports among others. Fans can look forward to seeing Ashish Chanchlani, Abhishek Malhan aka ‘Fukra Insaan,’ Round2Hell, UK07, Mortal, and Anurag Diwedi.
The event is set to offer a wide range of activities designed to connect and engage attendees with their favorite creators including fun-filled engagement sessions with creators, a mini tournament hosted by the title sponsor of Stanfest, Zupee, and the semi-finals and finals of Esports LAN tournament with the winner getting a Trip to Thailand. The Zupee mini tournament offers fans to play with their favorite creators and get rewards. The event will also celebrate excellence in gaming and esports through an award ceremony. Towards the end, a live music performance would wrap the event on a musical note.
The event will also offer multiple themed areas designed to offer an immersive experience for attendees.The event sponsors, Bingo and GetRizzed, will have dedicated experience to actively engage the audience with exciting competitions and attractive rewards. Additionally, the Stan arena and Ludo arena will feature multiple interactive booths, offering a variety of gaming activities and immersive experience zones designed to captivate and entertain attendees in the event.. Audiences can participate in tournaments, games to win goodies and rewards including a Royal Enfield Bullet. The event will also feature a cosplay arena where award winning artists will be joining showcasing their talent.
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.
