Gaming
Anand Rajwanshi appointed as CCO at Penta Esports
Mumbai: Penta Esports, the e-sports brand of India-based gaming and e-sports company Newgen Gaming, has announced the appointment of Anand Rajwanshi as chief creative officer (CCO).
In this new role, Rajwanshi will be heading the company’s creative initiatives and bringing the brand’s ideas to life, said the statement.
Prior to joining Penta Esports Gaming, Rajwanshi worked with Azzura International as chief operating officer and Publicis Groupe as associate vice president. While his gaming experience spans back to Kreeda, Reliance Games and training faculties at Aptech. With more than two decades in the industry, he is a seasoned professional delivering award-winning creative products for brands like Disney, Tata Motors, Nestle, and Airtel among others.
“I have worked with Anand in the past and have always admired his creative approach and vision. I believe his addition to the team will be immensely beneficial to the brand as he shapes the creative messaging going forward,” said Penta Esports founder and CEO Anurag Khurana.
Newgen Gaming operates in e-sports with Penta Esports. Rajwanshi will be working alongside internal and external teams to lead the creative conception and execution for all of Penta Esports’ initiatives including live broadcast and video IPs.
“I was fortunate to be in the first batch of people who were responsible for starting the gaming industry in India. Having worked in several verticals, I feel gaming is the only domain to challenge every talent present in me,” commented Anand Rajwanshi. “Getting back into gaming is the full circle that I needed. I look forward to teaming up with movers and shakers of esports in India.”
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.
