iWorld
Arré to reach larger audiences through SonyLiv platform
NEW DELHI: Leading multi-media, multi-format digital media brand Arré today announced its partnership with digital entertainment platform SonyLIV from Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) to enable users to watch Arré’s latest web series on its web and mobile platforms.
This partnership will also see Arré’s entire video content library available as a part of SonyLIV’s extensive catalogue in due course.
Arré will benefit from SonyLIV’s massive reach to digital viewers across India. SonyLIV users, on the other hand, will be able to sample all the rich and entertaining current and future content developed by Arré.
Launched earlier this month, Arré’s latest offering titled ‘Official Chukyagiri’ is a five-part slice-of-life fiction dramedy. It is targeted towards the ‘attitudinally millennial’ audience which shows life in the corporate world through h the eyes of an intern, Spandan Chukya. Apart from this series, SonyLIV users can also view shows such as ‘A.I.SHA My Virtual Girlfriend (A.I.SHA)’, ‘I Don’t Watch TV’ and ‘Arré Ho Ja Re-Gender’.
Other content from Arré’s stable, which will be made available under the partnership includes a new comic satire titled ‘Abbas Mastan’ about two movie buffs, as well as non-fiction video originals such as‘Death by Breath’, a documentary on pollution in Delhi (in partnership with the Indian Express Group), and ‘Kashmir’s Lost Children’, a documentary about the violence that children in the Kashmir Valley face. These shows will add on to the already established library of original web-series made by SonyLIV.
SPE Executive Vice-President and Head – Digital Business Uday Sodhi said: “SonyLIV has endeavoured to provide the best and most relevant entertainment options to our viewers, as is being aptly demonstrated by our push for more and more original, user-centric entertainment content. We have been investing a lot on creating original web-series and this partnership with Arré is another step in that direction. We are confident that SonyLIV’s massive viewership in the country will enjoy the diversity of entertaining contentwhich this association heralds. Our aim is to bridge the gap between the digital audience and relevant original quality content creators.”
Arré Co-Founder and CEO Ajay Chacko added: “We are delighted to partner with SonyLIV for ‘Official Chukyagiri’ to begin with, and look forward to hosting other shows from the Arré stable on the platform. Our model is to create highly engaging original content that can be distributed over a wide range of linear and non-linear platforms. SonyLIV’s wide and highly engaged premium audience base is a great fit to provide the reach, distribution and exposure for our shows.”
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.
