Gaming
PlaySuper lands $500K to make in-game shopping seamless
MUMBAI : Gaming commerce startup, PlaySuper, has secured $500 thousand in seed funding, led by IAN Angel Fund and 100X.VC. The round attracted notable angel investors, including Uday Sodhi, KRS Jamwal, Pratham Mittal, Rajit Bhattacharya, and Ankit Das, reinforcing confidence in PlaySuper’s vision to revolutionise in-game shopping.
The funding will accelerate product development, expand market reach, and support key hires. PlaySuper is set to launch its next-generation, hyper-personalised in-game store, enabling seamless integration without requiring game updates. The company also plans to expand into southeast Asia within six months, followed by Mena and Latam. Additionally, it will onboard a world-class product head and strengthen its B2B partnerships team to collaborate with more gaming studios.
Founded in April 2024 and headquartered in Gurgaon, PlaySuper is pioneering gaming commerce by allowing gamers to shop within mobile games in real time.
PlaySuper co-founder & COO Shouradeep Chakraborty commented: ‘Gaming is the largest entertainment sector, yet mobile game retention remains a challenge. At PlaySuper, we’re transforming gaming into an interactive, rewarding, and commerce-driven experience. This funding will help us drive product innovation and strategic partnerships to make in-game commerce mainstream.’
IAN Group co-founder Padmaja Ruparel added: ‘The gaming industry in India is expanding, but retention and monetisation remain key hurdles. PlaySuper is pioneering a new model that benefits both developers and players. With their deep industry expertise, we are confident in the team’s ability to drive this transformation.’
PlaySuper’s founding team—Shouradeep, Upamanyu, and Abhir—are lifelong gamers and second-time entrepreneurs. Shouradeep and Upamanyu previously co-founded LectureNotes, an edtech platform that secured $2.5 million in funding in 2022. With backgrounds in gaming, Web3, and edtech, they have identified a significant opportunity at the intersection of gaming, fintech, and commerce.
With mobile gaming retention rates in India facing a 98 per cent churn, PlaySuper introduces an innovative solution by embedding real-world rewards into games. This approach enhances player engagement while helping developers monetise effectively.
The global gaming commerce market is valued at over $500 billion, with India’s gaming sector projected to exceed $5 billion.
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.
