Gaming
JetSynthesys recruits Surender Thakur as revenue head
MUMBAI: JetSynthesys, the Mumbai-based gaming and digital entertainment outfit, has snared Surender Thakur as its new revenue head. The appointment sees the former national sales head of Viacom18’s live entertainment arm jump ship to the next-generation tech company.
Thakur brings nearly two decades of media muscle to JetSynthesys, which crafts immersive experiences across gaming, esports, music and youth culture. At Viacom18, he spearheaded sales strategy for large-format properties including Vh1 Supersonic and bespoke brand integrations, leading sales teams nationwide.
His media pedigree runs deep: three years at HT Media’s Fever FM and Radio One, where he headed business operations and drove profitability. Before that, an eight-year stint at Radio One saw him climb from retail sales head to station chief. He cut his teeth at Radio City and Mid Day, handling everything from classified ads to consumer durables at the English daily’s Rs 100-crore operation.
The hire signals JetSynthesys’s intent to monetise India’s booming gaming and esports scene more aggressively. With digital entertainment revenues surging post-pandemic, the company appears keen to leverage his live events expertise to bridge traditional media and gaming cultures.
For Thakur, it’s a chance to apply his sponsorship and IP curation skills to India’s most dynamic entertainment sector. The move also reflects the blurring lines between conventional media and gaming, as brands chase younger audiences across platforms.
JetSynthesys now has a seasoned revenue warrior to navigate this brave new world of digital entertainment
Gaming
Dream Sports sees 100 plus exits after gaming ban forces overhaul
Company splits into eight units as real money gaming law hits revenue.
MUMBAI: For a company built on fantasy leagues, reality has suddenly rewritten the rulebook. More than 100 employees have exited Dream Sports, the parent of Dream11, after the company reorganised its operations following India’s ban on real money online gaming. The shake up came after the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 came into force in August 2025, prohibiting games where users deposit money expecting winnings. The regulation struck at the heart of the fantasy gaming industry and dramatically affected Dream Sports’ core business, wiping out about 95 percent of its revenue and all of its profits.
In response, the Mumbai based company shifted into what chief executive officer Harsh Jain described as “startup mode”, splitting its operations into eight independent business units in December.
Around 700 employees were reassigned across these newly formed ventures based on their experience and interests. However, roughly 15 percent opted to leave the company.
A spokesperson for Dream Sports said many of those who exited were experienced professionals accustomed to running scaled businesses rather than early stage ventures.
“Since some of these employees were experienced with running high scale businesses and not startups, around 15 percent chose to leave and join other scaled companies or start ventures of their own,” the spokesperson said.
Despite the departures, the company noted that the attrition rate is only slightly higher than its earlier level of around 10 percent before the ban. Dream Sports now has close to 950 employees and is not currently hiring, choosing instead to focus on stabilising its existing workforce.
The restructuring has transformed Dream Sports from a fantasy gaming company into a broader sports entertainment platform. The eight units now operate independently, each focusing on different segments of the sports and technology ecosystem.
These include Dream11, sports streaming platform Fancode, sports travel service DreamSetGo, mobile game Dream Cricket and artificial intelligence initiative Dream Sports AI, which includes sports analytics platform Dream Play.
Other ventures include fintech product Dream Money, open source initiative Dream Horizon and the philanthropic arm Dream Sports Foundation.
As part of cost saving efforts, Dream Sports also relocated its headquarters from Bandra Kurla Complex to Worli earlier this year. The new office, called Dream Sports Stadium, brings teams from its various brands together under one roof to improve collaboration and operational efficiency.
Jain had earlier said the company removed bonus lock in timelines for employees hired in recent years, allowing those who wished to leave to exit with pro rata payouts.
“We want people who are fully into the startup mode and willing to work for it, and we will share that reward if it comes,” he said.
Founded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream Sports was last valued at 8 billion dollars after raising 840 million dollars in 2021 from investors including Falcon Edge Capital, DST Global, D1 Capital Partners, RedBird Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, TPG and Footpath Ventures.
The new gaming law has forced several companies in the fantasy gaming sector to either shut down or pivot their business models, signalling a significant reset for one of India’s fastest growing digital entertainment industries.
