Getty ImagesPUNE: SuperGaming, a party hub for casual gamers, on Tuesday said it has raised $1.3 million in seed funding from Dream Incubator, AET Fund and Better Capital, an early-stage investor. The money will be used to build the company’s social platform, partner with other popular games, and team expansion.
“The seed funding comes at an opportune time for us and will enable us to build a new casual gaming experience for leading metros in India,” Roby John, CEO of SuperGaming said. “Globally, games like Fortnite are becoming the new social network. They are a much more fun and authentic way of hanging out with friends than commenting on photos. However, the problem with largescale games like Fortnite is that they are restricted to a more hard-core gaming audience, typically the young male demographic. What we are building is a party hub around casual games, which are played by a much larger audience to the tune of billions.”
India’s online gaming industry is expected to be a $1 billion opportunity by 2021, according to a study by Google and KPMG. SuperGaming was started earlier this year by John, Navneet Waraich and Sanket Nadhani. John and Waraich have worked for 17 years in June Gaming, while Nadhani was earlier at Wingify and FusionCharts.
Munehiko Eto, managing director of Dream Incubator (DI) India, said, “We have evaluated over 100 gaming startups in India and SuperGaming is the best team we have seen. Ability to create a high-quality game, and not just marketing, is the key to success in the gaming industry. With a track record of 100+ global quality games with 150 million+ installs, we believe they are best placed to capture the market. We look forward to supporting their entry into Southeast Asia market and business development together with the Japanese entertainment industry.”
SuperGaming aims to offer the social experience of a game night. The hub allows individuals to play casual, social and party games, chat, become cheerleaders and watch tournaments, and also share moments and highlights. “Most gaming platforms are built for the young male audience and end up becoming a toxic place for girls. By having a wide genre of games and being very conscious about how we build SuperGaming, we want to make a fun place for girls to hang out as well,” said John. The company plans to expand outside India next year, he said.
“The seed funding comes at an opportune time for us and will enable us to build a new casual gaming experience for leading metros in India,” Roby John, CEO of SuperGaming said. “Globally, games like Fortnite are becoming the new social network. They are a much more fun and authentic way of hanging out with friends than commenting on photos. However, the problem with largescale games like Fortnite is that they are restricted to a more hard-core gaming audience, typically the young male demographic. What we are building is a party hub around casual games, which are played by a much larger audience to the tune of billions.”
India’s online gaming industry is expected to be a $1 billion opportunity by 2021, according to a study by Google and KPMG. SuperGaming was started earlier this year by John, Navneet Waraich and Sanket Nadhani. John and Waraich have worked for 17 years in June Gaming, while Nadhani was earlier at Wingify and FusionCharts.
Munehiko Eto, managing director of Dream Incubator (DI) India, said, “We have evaluated over 100 gaming startups in India and SuperGaming is the best team we have seen. Ability to create a high-quality game, and not just marketing, is the key to success in the gaming industry. With a track record of 100+ global quality games with 150 million+ installs, we believe they are best placed to capture the market. We look forward to supporting their entry into Southeast Asia market and business development together with the Japanese entertainment industry.”
SuperGaming aims to offer the social experience of a game night. The hub allows individuals to play casual, social and party games, chat, become cheerleaders and watch tournaments, and also share moments and highlights. “Most gaming platforms are built for the young male audience and end up becoming a toxic place for girls. By having a wide genre of games and being very conscious about how we build SuperGaming, we want to make a fun place for girls to hang out as well,” said John. The company plans to expand outside India next year, he said.
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