Gaming
Bhangra reigns supreme in Punjab with Red FM’s Bhangra Premier League
Mumbai: India’s leading private radio and entertainment network, Red FM proudly announces the launch of the Bhangra Premier League, a grand celebration of the spirit of Punjab through the powerful beats of Bhangra. The competition will unfold through four city auditions, and culminate in a thrilling finale featuring two pools and two categories on the 3 March 2024 at Elante Mall, Chandigarh.
Bhangra Premier League (BPL) is a celebration of what it means to be Punjabi. This competition is set to be the ultimate battleground for Bhangra supremacy across Punjab. The auditions will take place in 4 cities including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Mohali, and Chandigarh, but participation is allowed from across India. There will also be two digital wild card entries selected for the finale. Distinguished judges for the finale include Pammi Bai, Sonu Pradhan and Hardy Singh.
Registration link – www.bhangrapremierleague.in
Speaking on the announcement, RED FM and Magic FM director & COO Nisha Narayanan said “Without a doubt, Bhangra is the heartbeat of Punjab and Punjabi culture. Truth be told, we cannot be cultural evangelists without highlighting a dance form that binds not just the people of Punjab but the entire India in its energetic and vivacious tones. Bhangra Premier League is a Red FM endeavour to promote the cultural pulse of Punjab by giving the admirers of this dance form and artists a larger-than-life platform. We are eagerly looking forward to witnessing all the nakhra’s and liveliness that one talks about, when they talk about a Bhangra performance; we hope our audience is excited too.”
The grand finale will include a total of ten finalists chosen by our judges from across the cities, resulting in two ultimate winners per category and 2 runners up.
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.
