iWorld
Shemaroo projects 25-30% digital business growth in FY 2020
MUMBAI: Content powerhouse Shemaroo started its initiatives for digital business comparatively earlier than many other traditional media companies in India. The company has now stepped up its new media segment which is almost 30 per cent of the overall business with the launch of ShemarooMe. Shemaroo is taking a slow but steady approach and does not intend to go head-to-head with giants like Amazon and Netflix.
Talking to investors in a conference call after posting Q3 results, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd CEO Hiren Gada said that the new OTT business has been built at a significantly low capex model making it sustainable. According to him, India being a highly heterogeneous market leaves the opportunity for even late entrants. Despite some segments being covered by existing players, a significant chunk of potential segments are still open.
“We looked into our own content pie and saw that there are few segments where we have a significant offering and strong market position in terms of either being number one, two or three in terms of content or share of viewership etc., and we looked at actually how we can leverage those opportunities to create the connect. ShemarooMe is the short consumer connect bit that we are looking to do,” Gada said. The core strategy is to establish the new OTT platform as the best option for consumers in its core categories.
However, it won’t get into web series since Shemaroo holds a steady ground in nonfiction content like classic films, devotional etc., which it believes is a better value add to its core.
Moreover, Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd COO Kranti Gada expects TV-friendly content catalogue to see good consumption since initial tests on YouTube proved favourable. ShemarooMe has a large number of popular Bollywood movies on the platform and Hiren Gada thinks digital will have movies as a significant consuming category.
Although Shemaroo is witnessing significant growth in YouTube channels viewership, the revenue from the segment has been flattish due to several reasons. But the management is optimistic as digital ad spend is headed up and expected to keep growing at a certain rate. Shemaroo CEO thinks YouTube being the largest video platform will capture a good share of that growth.
“What is heartening more than anything else is the fact that there are core consumption and viewer habit formation of coming to the platform, consuming, interacting, seeking out content and engaging with it,” he added.
Hiren Gada projects that the overall digital pie of the company will see a 25 to 30 per cent growth in FY 2020 as the industry level growth is between 20-25 per cent. Shemaroo has always aspired 5 per cent higher than the sector. Hence if the industry grows at a higher pace, he seems confident that Shemaroo’s digital business will grow faster.
On being asked about the company’s debt reduction plan, Hiren Gada said, “We are hoping that now with ShemarooMe and hopefully with a better YouTube growth, those trends should continue in the direction that we all are expecting and overall on the debt front even this quarter there has been a slight marginal reduction. So the debt is at a broad level the content requirement for on a so content acquisition versus monetisation so all the acquisition is being funded by internal accruals from monetisation at this point in time.”
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.
