iWorld
Bengali OTT platform Addatimes launches in Bangladesh
MUMBAI: Addatimes, Bengali entertainment OTT platform and web channel with music, original web shows and short films, has launched in Bangladesh to coincide with the Eid-Ul-Fitr celebrations. Addatimes is targeting five million subscribers within the first years of its launch. The yearly subscription plan for Bangladesh market is 299 Taka.
The partnership between Addatimes and LBC Media Entertainment Company, a concern of Agrani Holdings Group, and Allianz FMCG Holdings Ltd was announced recently. As a distribution partner, Agrani Holdings Group will expand Addatimes' reach and business by entrusting the online streaming platform to OEMs, telecom companies and internet service providers, among others. They will also promote the brand in Bangladesh through marketing projects.
Addatimes founder and promoter Rajiv Mehra said, “Bengali is the eighth-most popularly spoken language in the world and Bangladesh is a country where the Bengali language is all-encompassing. Since Dr Sakib has such an in-depth understanding of the Bangladeshi market, this partnership was a real no-brainer. We at Addatimes feel, that this was the right time to expand our reach and so we have moved forward with this decision. We have all the ingredients to serve the Bangladeshi audience the real feast of entertainment.’
Addatimes director and co-promoter Nispal Singh Raney said “We at Addatimes are incredibly happy with this new association. We have faith in the abilities of our friends at Agrani and we hope that this is just the beginning of a very fruitful partnership.”
Agrani CEO Sakib M Rahman commented on the partnership, "Our group has over the years earned the reputation of rapidly developing strategic business environments with a strong understanding of the local culture."
"Addatimes is one of the most popular Indian-Bengali online streaming giants, offering a wide variety of content. Our distribution network will focus on providing the video-on-demand service across the country. The execution of the OTT platform will be carried out by the group's sister concern companies, Agrani Trading Company Limited and LBC Media Entertainment Company, in Bangladesh," he added.
LBC also has a strategic association with Insomnia Media and Content Services LLP for curating, developing and producing content for LBC across genres and formats. “We are excited about Addatimes launch in the Bangladesh Market. Insomnia is here to tell compelling Untold stories, with global production values for the evolving audience,” Insomnia co-founder Juhi Parekh Mehta said.
The Addatimes Prime Bengali web series include the premium web series The Senapatis, and Oh Mother!, Feluda, Khyapa, One Night Stand and Sufiyana among others. Viewers can watch the first web-episodes of all these shows for free only on Addatimes. The platform has varied content slate including periodic drama to contemporary romance.
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.
