Gaming
Skill, thrills and compliance: Inside Zupee’s winning online game
MUMBAI: India’s online gaming world is having its “game on” moment and riding the leaderboard is Zupee, a platform that’s swapped chance for skill, raked in 150 million signups, clocked a jaw-dropping 12.5 billion gameplays, and finished financial year 2024 with a neat Rs 146 crore net profit. For an industry notorious for burning money faster than a turbo-charged console, Zupee’s win is as rare as a perfect game.
Pull back the curtain and you’ll meet Govind Mittal, Zupee’s chief spokesperson, who’s put his chips on integrity from day one. “Compliance isn’t an afterthought for us,” he told Indiantelevision.com’s Rohin Ramesh via email. “It’s built into the very foundation of how we operate.”
No sleight of hand here, just rigour honed across boardrooms at ITC, Rivigo, Joyy and more, plus a Chartered Accountant’s sharp eye (Mittal bagged an all-India rank of 16, first attempt, just saying). He has a record of spinning up companies like YY India, rocketing revenues from $1 million to $200 million ARR.
Backed by heavyweight investors like WestCap, Matrix Partners, and Nepean Capital, Zupee boasts a $600 million valuation and is not just surviving but thriving with profitability in its corner. With momentum on its side, Zupee is setting its sights on joining the top tier of India’s online gaming platforms, giving its rivals a serious run for their money.
But don’t mistake the platform for a digital wild west. Instead, think of Swiss bank user trust being guarded more jealous than Fabergé eggs (A jewelled egg first created by the jewellery firm ‘House of Fabergé’). Every Zupee game is skill-based, luck is for lotteries.
RNG (random number generators) are reviewed by global auditors; the firm boasts a third-party stamp from Arthur D. Little, and bots are banished. “We work closely with payment gateways to keep track of UPI IDs which have been used for fraud in the past and block payments through such IDs to ensure financial integrity of the platform,” says Mittal.
Mittal has turned responsible gaming from a regulatory box-tick into the heart and soul of Zupee’s digital playground. KYC, age-gating, daily deposit limits, self-exclusion tools and trained support are stitched into the code. Session limits and refunds are all crystal clear. “Everything from our terms and conditions to our advertising practices is designed to be transparent and user-first. Fairness isn’t just a promise – it’s something we’ve institutionalised,” he comments.
When risky behaviour emerges (say, a player’s wallet suddenly goes on a sugar rush), the system nudges, prompts, and if necessary, hits pause. “From day one we’ve built our platform with safeguards like spend limits, session reminders and self-exclusion tools that help users stay in control of their gameplay. Zupee offers users the ability to self-regulate through deposit limits and game locks and we actively monitor gameplay patterns to flag and assist users showing signs of excessive behavior,” he boasts.
In an industry where “collaboration” is usually code for “let’s not tell the regulator”, Zupee takes the opposite tack. The company is a card-carrying member of the All India Gaming Federation, actively sharing its rulebook, lobbying for a central regulatory framework, and even blowing the whistle on shady offshore operators trying to sneak in through the back door.
“We regularly engage with policy stakeholders to provide ground-level insights on gameplay behavior, tech innovation and user safety, helping ensure that emerging regulations are both practical and forward-looking,” he grins.
Mittal bristles at the idea that revenue growth and safeguarding users are at odds. Says he, “Zupee offers users the ability to self-regulate through deposit limits and game locks and we actively monitor gameplay patterns to flag and assist users showing signs of excessive behavior. In-app nudges, direct outreach from trained counselors and temporary restrictions are applied where necessary. Our systems are designed to ensure that gaming remains a form of entertainment.”
India’s gaming laws are a spaghetti of state-level tweaks. For industry players, it’s like playing snakes and ladders, mostly snakes. He concludes by saying, “A unified regulation is absolutely necessary for the orderly growth of this industry. Gaming has been a disruptive sector in more than one way and has the potential to engender technological innovation far beyond our imagination.”
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Gaming
Bluestone FY26 revenue rises to Rs 2,436 crore, turns profitable
Q4 profit at Rs 31 crore, full-year profit at Rs 13 crore vs loss last year.
MUMBAI: From sparkle to numbers, Bluestone seems to be polishing more than just jewellery this year. Bluestone Jewellery and Lifestyle Limited reported a sharp turnaround in FY26, with revenue from operations rising to Rs 2,436 crore (Rs 24,364 million), up from Rs 1,770 crore (Rs 17,700 million) in FY25. The company posted a full-year profit of Rs 13 crore (Rs 131.79 million), a significant recovery from a loss of Rs 222 crore (Rs 2,218 million) a year ago.
Total income for the year stood at Rs 2,486 crore (Rs 24,860 million), compared to Rs 1,830 crore (Rs 18,300 million) in the previous year, reflecting both topline growth and improved operational momentum.
The March quarter, however, told a more nuanced story. Revenue from operations came in at Rs 681 crore (Rs 6,814 million), down from Rs 748 crore (Rs 7,486 million) in the year-ago period, though higher than Rs 461 crore (Rs 4,613 million) in the preceding December quarter. Net profit for Q4 stood at Rs 31 crore (Rs 311.81 million), compared to Rs 68 crore (Rs 688 million) a year earlier, but a clear reversal from a loss of Rs 51 crore (Rs 512 million) in Q3.
Margins were shaped by higher input costs, with raw material consumption rising to Rs 2,204 crore (Rs 22,043 million) for the full year, alongside employee benefit expenses of Rs 282 crore (Rs 2,824 million) and finance costs of Rs 210 crore (Rs 2,104 million). Other expenses came in at Rs 371 crore (Rs 3,715 million), slightly lower than Rs 393 crore (Rs 3,938 million) in FY25.
On the balance sheet front, total assets expanded to Rs 4,961 crore (Rs 49,610 million) as of March 31, 2026, from Rs 3,532 crore (Rs 35,322 million) a year earlier, driven largely by a surge in inventories to Rs 2,672 crore (Rs 26,718 million). Equity also strengthened to Rs 1,803 crore (Rs 18,030 million), nearly doubling from Rs 911 crore (Rs 9,107 million).
Cash flows reflected the cost of growth. Net cash used in operating activities stood at Rs 199 crore (Rs 1,990 million), while investing activities saw an outflow of Rs 239 crore (Rs 2,392 million). Financing activities, however, generated Rs 497 crore (Rs 4,971 million), helping the company end the year with cash and cash equivalents of Rs 108 crore (Rs 1,075 million), up from Rs 49 crore (Rs 487 million).
Earnings per share for FY26 came in at Rs 1.10, a sharp improvement from a negative Rs 79.74 in FY25, underlining the shift from losses to profitability.
With revenue scaling up, costs still glittering on the higher side, and profitability finally back in the black, BlueStone’s FY26 performance suggests a business mid-transition less about shine alone, and more about sustaining it.
