Gaming
PlaySuper lands $500K to make in-game shopping seamless
MUMBAI : Gaming commerce startup, PlaySuper, has secured $500 thousand in seed funding, led by IAN Angel Fund and 100X.VC. The round attracted notable angel investors, including Uday Sodhi, KRS Jamwal, Pratham Mittal, Rajit Bhattacharya, and Ankit Das, reinforcing confidence in PlaySuper’s vision to revolutionise in-game shopping.
The funding will accelerate product development, expand market reach, and support key hires. PlaySuper is set to launch its next-generation, hyper-personalised in-game store, enabling seamless integration without requiring game updates. The company also plans to expand into southeast Asia within six months, followed by Mena and Latam. Additionally, it will onboard a world-class product head and strengthen its B2B partnerships team to collaborate with more gaming studios.
Founded in April 2024 and headquartered in Gurgaon, PlaySuper is pioneering gaming commerce by allowing gamers to shop within mobile games in real time.
PlaySuper co-founder & COO Shouradeep Chakraborty commented: ‘Gaming is the largest entertainment sector, yet mobile game retention remains a challenge. At PlaySuper, we’re transforming gaming into an interactive, rewarding, and commerce-driven experience. This funding will help us drive product innovation and strategic partnerships to make in-game commerce mainstream.’
IAN Group co-founder Padmaja Ruparel added: ‘The gaming industry in India is expanding, but retention and monetisation remain key hurdles. PlaySuper is pioneering a new model that benefits both developers and players. With their deep industry expertise, we are confident in the team’s ability to drive this transformation.’
PlaySuper’s founding team—Shouradeep, Upamanyu, and Abhir—are lifelong gamers and second-time entrepreneurs. Shouradeep and Upamanyu previously co-founded LectureNotes, an edtech platform that secured $2.5 million in funding in 2022. With backgrounds in gaming, Web3, and edtech, they have identified a significant opportunity at the intersection of gaming, fintech, and commerce.
With mobile gaming retention rates in India facing a 98 per cent churn, PlaySuper introduces an innovative solution by embedding real-world rewards into games. This approach enhances player engagement while helping developers monetise effectively.
The global gaming commerce market is valued at over $500 billion, with India’s gaming sector projected to exceed $5 billion.
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.
