Gaming and esports platform GamingMonk has raised $100,000 as strategic investment from Japanese gaming media GameWith. The strategic partnership is expected to build on synergies, support and collaboration for the Indian gaming industry.
GamingMonk raised a seed round last year from Incubate Fund, Rajan Anandan, Stellaris Ventures, Smile Group, AdvantEdge Founders and Samir Khurana.
The funding is being used for product development, team building and brand marketing. GamingMonk has grown its user base by 500% in the last six months.
Takuya Imaizumi, CEO of GameWith Inc., said, “The gaming industry in India has strong growth potential and GamingMonk, led by a strong management team, is well-positioned to further benefit from industry trends. We are excited about the company’s growth prospects and proud to have this opportunity to support the journey.”
GamingMonk is the largest community focused esports startup in India, setting its stronghold in media content, community and esports. The company’s vision has been to build an ecosystem for gamers through prize tournaments, gaming content and many other engagement programs. The company was founded in 2014 by Abhay Sharma and Ashwin Haryani.
“There are exciting times ahead for the gamers in India. GameWith brings a lot on board with their experience and leading position in the Japanese market. Their insights will help us in building a better product for the Indian gaming market” said, Abhay Sharma, Co-founder, GamingMonk, commenting on the funding.
The online gaming industry in India is expected to generate a revenue of Rs. 11,900 crore by FY 2023. The number of gamers have crossed 250 million (expected to reach 628 million by 2020) from 25 million in 2010, according to a report by consulting major KPMG and industry’s self-regulatory body, Indian Federation of Sports Gaming.
“We are very excited about the GameWith-GamingMonk collaboration and are very sure that soon the Indian gamers will experience something big like never before! The Indian Gaming Industry is still at its infancy stage and needs the expertise of stalwarts like GameWith to flourish at its best and with this partnership, we are very hopeful to change the experience of our gamers as well the perceptions of non-gamers”, added Ashwin Haryani, Co-founder, GamingMonk.