iWorld
Gobble & Dewar’s web series ‘You got Chef’d!’ featuring chef Kelvin Cheung wins a food award for best digital content
MUMBAI: Pocket Aces’ food channel Gobble won Gold at Talent Track 2019 for the Best Digital Content – Food for their web series ‘You Got Chef’d!’ in association with Dewar’s by Bacardi India
The show features some of India’s most popular digital faces: Rannvijay Singha, Mithila Palkar, Shibani Dandekar, Sumeet Vyas and Dhruv Sehgal cooking street-style versions of their favourite dishes against celebrity chef Kelvin Cheung’s gourmet versions. All this over some banter and delicious food, topped with a perfect cocktail pairing, made by Ernest Reid – Dewar’s brand ambassador and celebrated mixologist.
The show, across 5 episodes, amassed ~4,448,289 with an impressive 111:1 like to dislike ratio. As millennials move from celebrating gigantic occasions to celebrating everyday rituals like binge watching a web series or watching a sports match together, Gobble and Dewar’s conceptualized this series to ignite fun conversations through #DoubleIsBetter.
Mr Anshuman Goenka, Marketing Head, Bacardí India said, “Dewar’s is heavily invested in enabling elevated experiences for millennials which are relatable. With ‘You Got Chef’d!’, we are experimenting with a new quirky platform which encourages them to pair gourmet food with whisky cocktails to enjoy simple occasions like bingeing, sports night etc. in a more effective manner. Both the award and the response that we have received will help us in expanding our efforts in this segment.”
Commenting on the award, Sonalika Mehra, Head of Gobble said, “You Got Chef’d is our first-ever food web series and we’re ecstatic to have won a Gold! Our partnership with Dewar's is a perfect fit for the show, both in terms of audience and narrative. It’s an interesting time to be creating content because the digital audience is clearly open and receptive to new and interesting formats.” “We've got lots of interesting things lined up in 2019, so this has kicked off our year in great style,” she adds excitedly.
Talent Track awards recognize India’s digital content achievers each year. In its third edition held at Mumbai on 8th February this year, over 500 industry players including Hotstar, ALT Balaji, Viu, Zee5, Voot participated.
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.
