iWorld
Roposo launches live entertainment commerce
Mumbai: With an intent to disrupt the mobile and online commerce space, Roposo on Thursday announced the launch of a digital destination for creator-led, live entertainment commerce. According to a statement, the new offering will enable consumers to shop for top-notch products in real-time within a live, virtual mall environment.
Shoppers on the Roposo will now be able to discover products recommended by creators through entertaining live streams, visit hundreds of creator-led pop stores, and get up close and personal with some of their favourite stars. While shopping across categories such as fashion & beauty, health & fitness, electronics, home décor, and lifestyle, they can simultaneously attend live events by some of Gen-Z’s favourite creators. Roposo will enable multiple features for social interactions on both sides of the screen in its live streams, the platform said in a statement.
Going forward, creators can also have the opportunity to monetise their expertise by conducting paid masterclasses, and through ticketed live shows such as music concerts, stand-up comedy, talk shows, and fashion shows.
“While we have several big celebrities, the real hero for Roposo will be creators; be it the young fashion designer from Mangalore who wants to live-stream her collection on the platform and sell nationwide through her own pop store, or the indie rapper from Punjab who wants to reach millions through a ticketed concert,” stated Roposo vice president and general manager Mansi Jain. “We intend to be the platform of choice for enterprising creators, who are not only great entertainers, but are experts in their domain, have authentic connections with their audience, and are skilled at influencing buying decisions.”
For its creators, Roposo will integrate a wide range of monetisation levers on the platform. Besides creating live experiences, they will be able to run their own multi-brand pop stores on the platform. With opportunities to go live on Glance lock screen, they can potentially have access to Glance’s user base of over 150 million in India alone, said the statement.
In June this year, Glance had acquired the full-stack e-commerce platform Shop101. A business unit of Glance, Roposo intends to leverage Shop101’s technology, comprehensive supply chain infrastructure, and vast experience in managing end-to-end digital shopping to drive its commerce proposition. Glance also recently launched Glance Live which brings users some of the best of live content from across the internet on the lock screens of their smartphones. Roposo will be one of the major content developers on Glance Live.
“Our intent is to build the largest platform for creator-led live shopping in India, and take it to Southeast Asia and the USA in the coming quarters. There is rising global demand for immersive shopping experiences that closely replicate the offline world, online,” stated InMobi Group co-founder and Glance president & COO Piyush Shah. “As we have seen in other markets, live streaming commerce, conducted by talented creators, is becoming a successful way to meet that demand. With Roposo’s popularity amongst creators, the scale and Live stack of Glance, and the e-commerce infrastructure of Shop101, we are well poised to take this new Roposo experience out in a big way.”
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.
