Gaming
Skyesports Masters unveils Velocity Gaming as the final franchise
Mumbai: Velocity Gaming, the Hyderabad-based Esports organisation renowned for its prominence in the PC esports space, has been revealed as the final franchise for Skyesports Masters, India’s biggest gaming tournament.
The Skyesports Masters is India’s first-ever franchised Esports league, set to happen across two stages: the League stage and the LAN Playoffs. The League Stage will span multiple weeks from 8 July to 17 Aug. as the eight teams compete in a double round-robin format. Only the top four, though, will be able to make it to the Playoffs, set to happen as an on-ground tournament on Aug. 26 and 27 to crown the inaugural Skyesports Masters champions.
Velocity Gaming founder and CEO Manoj Kasyap said, “Counter-Strike has always been an interesting esports title, and while it hasn’t been able to grow exponentially in India, I believe the Skyesports Masters is the first step to making that happen. Skyesports has also managed to make this event very viable in the long run for franchised teams. I believe this is the first time in Indian esports something like this is happening. We don’t want to miss out on this amazing opportunity”.
Velocity Gaming has prioritised experience as it prepares to unleash a fight for the Rs 2,00,00,000 prize pool. The roster consists of the following players:
Bodhisattwa “The_Guru” Panday
Dipayan “MaChOleleR” Das
Tamajit “Logan” Ghosal
Keven “KevinR” Ross Russel
Muhammad “Syahhftw” Shyarul Daneal Bin Arif
Thomas “TAV” Kurian
Nairit “L0sttt” Banerjee
The roster is primarily composed of players scouted from the Skyesports Masters cafe qualifiers. Velocity Gaming acquired the squad of RDX which won the Kolkata cafe qualifier. The cafe qualifiers are a grassroots-level initiative by Skyesports which happened across 20 cities of the country to give a boost to CS: GO and scout for potential talent.
Headlining the experienced roster is KevinR, the veteran U.S. import who has been competing professionally since 2004 and has numerous international accolades to his name. The rest of the team is also highly accomplished as the squad has earned several top-three finishes in different tournaments, including competitions by ESL and the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM).
Skyesports founder and CEO Shiva Nandy said, “Velocity Gaming is a name synonymous with PC esports in India. It’d be an injustice to organise India’s biggest gaming tournament without the organization. I am thrilled that Manoj and Velocity believe in our vision for the Skyesports Masters and Counter-Strike. Their involvement is a testament to the potential and longevity of the league”.
With India’s biggest gaming tournament just around the corner, the stage is set for Velocity Gaming and seven other franchise to enthral the gaming audience of the country with world-class gameplay and nail-biting action.
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.
