Gaming
Revenant Esports signs Punkk for BGMI esports lineup ahead of Rs two crore tournament
Mumbai: Revenant Esports, an esports organisation has announced a new edition to its Battlegrounds Mobile India Esports lineup. Ashutosh “Punkk” Singh, the 21-year-old hailing from Chirawa, Rajasthan, is the newest addition to the team ahead of the anticipated BGMI India Series (BGIS), Krafton’s Rs 2,00,00,000 prize pool esports tournament.
At Revenant, Punkk joins longtime former allies Sensei and Fierce. Having played with them for nearly two years back from 2020 to 2022, he has an understanding of the team’s playstyle while bringing in experience from his recent stints at Reckoning Esports and Velocity Gaming.
Furthermore, having played with Sensei, who currently serves as the IGL for Revenant Esports, for such a long time, Punk will be able to naturally assimilate into the team, ahead of the crucial The Grind phase of the BGMI India Series.
Having previously served as an IGL himself, he will be able to assist Sensei in crucial situations in-game. Punk also brings an aggressive playstyle to the team and his gun-power, for which he is widely renowned, will help the team pick up the finishes which are very important in the new points system for BGMI Esports.
Commenting on his reunion with former teammates and joining Revenant Esports, Punk remarked, “I am very excited to be a part of Revenant Esports and reunite with my old friends Sensei and Fierce. I think all of us have a deep understanding of our respective play styles in the game. With our collective experience and synergy, combined with the prowess of Aquanox and Blaze, we will be able to leave a strong mark on the tournament.”
Revenant Esports’ BGMI Esports lineup is one of the most formidable in the country. The team has previously finished second in the Skyesports Championship 5.0 including a fifth place finish at the India-Korea Invitational in Delhi. A trophy, however, has alluded the team which they are looking to change with the addition of Punkk. The new lineup ahead of the BGIS is as follows:
- Deepak “Sensei” Negi
- Punkk
- Harsh “Aquanox” Rao
- Hamze “Blaze” Khozema Hyderabadwala
- Ritesh “Fierce” Nawandar
Revenant Esports founder and CEO Rohit Jagasia added, “We are delighted to welcome Punkk to the Revenant family. His familiarity with our team dynamics and exceptional skills make him an invaluable asset as we gear up for the BGMI India Series.”
Revenant Esports’ BGMI lineup will be seen in action at The Grind stage of the BGIS 2024. As one of the country’s top esports organisations, the team has received a direct invite into this stage and will be competing for a spot in the BGIS 2024 Main Event. The Grind is being held online and all players will be competing in the tournament from Revenant’s state-of-the-art boot camp in Mumbai, 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.
