iWorld
Eros Now’s Comedy Series Side Hero bags ‘Best Web Series’ award from The Digital Hash
MUMBAI: Eros Now, leading over-the-top (OTT) South Asian entertainment platform owned by Eros International Plc, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment, wins the ‘Best Web Series’ award for their first original web series – Side Hero by The Digital Hash, a digital portal exclusively covering Web Entertainment. The comedy series added another feather to its cap with lead actor Kunaal Roy Kapur bagging the ‘Best Actor’ award for his performance in the web-series.
The Digital Hash recognizes superlative web content every month under their property “Streaming Awards” which honours the best talent in the realm of digital entertainment. The eight episodes series that released in September garnered much praise for its humorous take on Kunaal’s life, juggling between the endeavour to get a lead role but always ending up being the ‘Side Hero’. Side Hero has enjoyed tremendous popularity with a rating of 8.6 (on IMDB) as well as the number one position on Top Hindi Movies and Shows section within a week of its release on IMDB over others like the recently released movies during the same period such as Sui Dhaaga.
Commenting on the award for the web series, Ridhima Lulla, Chief Content Officer, Eros Group said, “It is a great honour to be recognized for our very first original web series and I am grateful to The Digital Hash and the audience for appreciating our work. Comedy is one of the most watched genres across formats and we are happy our fresh take on humour has been loved by audiences. We are now looking forward to the launch of Season 2 of the series.”
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.
