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Nazara acquires IP rights of Ultimate Teen Patti from Games24x7

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Nazara acquires IP rights of Ultimate Teen Patti from Games24x7
Medial

Nazara Technologies’ mobile gaming arm Next Wave Multimedia has acquired the intellectual property rights of Ultimate Teen Patti from Games24X7 for Rs 10 crore. Ultimate Teen Patti lets users play teen patti, a form of poker, online and with other competitors without any real money and is designed as a free to play online game. It claims to have achieved a gross turnover of Rs 7 crore in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). With the acquisition, Nextwave will expand its offerings in the casual freemium gaming space. Recently, Nazara announced the acquisition of an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps (PBA) from its promoters Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka for a sum of Rs 300 crore. In May, Nazara acquired 100% stake in mobile gaming subsidiary Nextwave Multimedia by buying the remaining 28.12% from founders. Nazara’s portfolio companies include, Nodwin Gaming in the esports space, Sportskeeda and Pro Football Network in the sports media space.

Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures invests $25 Mn in Curefoods

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures invests $25 Mn in Curefoods
Medial

Cloud kitchen startup Curefoods has raised an additional capital of $25 million in its Series D round from Three State Ventures, a fund launched by Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. The company raised $36 million in the first tranche of Series D and is now valued at $375 million, according to Curefoods founder and CEO Ankit Nagori. As per data intelligence platform TheKredible, it has raised more than $190 million to date. Bansal made the investment by buying out Cultfit’s remaining stake in the cloud-kitchen platform and from some angel investors, according to an ET report. Four-year-old Curefoods operates brands like EatFit, Yumlane, Aligarh House Biryani, Masalabox and CakeZone. It has over 100 kitchens in over 200 locations across 15 cities serviced by a backend operation of over 7 food factories, and 150 multi-brand cloud kitchens. Also Read: Decoding the financial health of leading cloud kitchen startups Besides fundraising, the company also acquired two brands – YumLane Pizza and Millet Express in 2023. Curefoods competes with Rebel Foods and Box8, FreshMenu, and a host of independent brands such as Biryani Blues and Biryani by Kilo. Among the cloud kitchen brands, Curefoods is the second largest brand in terms of revenue after Rebel Foods. While Rebel Foods’ revenue from operations grew 39.2% to Rs 1,195 crore in FY23, Curefoods reported Rs 384 crore in revenue followed by EatClub with revenues exceeding Rs 300 crore in the same period. Biryani By Kilo also claims a revenue of around Rs 300 crore in the last fiscal year.

Nazara acquires UK based Fusebox Games for $27.2 Mn

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Nazara acquires UK based Fusebox Games for $27.2 Mn
Medial

Gaming and sports media company Nazara Technologies has acquired Fusebox Games Limited, a UK-based gaming studio for Rs 228 crore ($27.2 million) in an all-cash transaction. Fusebox publishes an interactive story game ‘Love Island’ and is developing new games based on popular global TV IPs. In CY23, the company reported revenues of Rs 87.5 crore ($10.4 million) with an EBITDA of Rs 11.7 crore ($1.4 million). During CY24, Fusebox claims to have recorded a strong growth with year-to-date revenues (January- July 2024) at Rs 116.6 crore ($13.9 million) with an EBITDA of ~Rs 33.3 crore ($4 million). Fusebox primarily targets developed markets including the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and New Zealand among others. The company has 30 employees primarily based in the UK. In March, Nazara announced that it has plans to invest $100 million towards mergers and acquisitions within the next 24 months. Since then, it has invested in Circle of Games, and acquired Kiddopia developer Paper Boat Apps. Through its subsidiaries, Nazara also acquired IP rights of Ultimate Teen Patti from Games24x7, and took over assets of Deltias Gaming. Nazara posted Rs 254.43 crore in total revenue with a profit of Rs 17.8 crore in Q1 FY25. For the fiscal year ending March 2024 (FY24), Nazara’s revenue from operations increased 4.3% to Rs 1,138 crore in FY24 from Rs 1,091 crore in FY23. The firm’s controlled cost and spike in other income helped it post a 23% growth in its profit to Rs 75 crore in FY24 from Rs 61 crore in the previous fiscal year. Earlier this year, the Nitish Mittersain-led firm raised Rs 250 crore ($30 million) from Zerodha’s co-founders-backed Kamath Associates & NKSquared, ICICI Securities, Plutus Wealth Management, and others.

Nazara’s Absolute Sports acquires assets of DeltiasGaming

EntrackrEntrackr · 11m ago
Nazara’s Absolute Sports acquires assets of DeltiasGaming
Medial

Absolute Sports, a Nazara Technologies subsidiary and the parent company of Sportskeeda.com, has signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire all the assets of DeltiasGaming.com, a premier source of gaming and e-sports content in the US. The transaction is for an all-cash consideration of $900K ( around Rs 7.5 crore) to be paid over one or more tranches and is expected to be closed in the next 45 days. Last month, Nazara Technologies’ mobile gaming arm Next Wave Multimedia acquired the intellectual property rights of Ultimate Teen Patti from Games24X7 for Rs 10 crore. It also announced the acquisition of an additional 48.42% stake in Paper Boat Apps (PBA) from its promoters Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka for a sum of Rs 300 crore. In May, Nazara acquired 100% stake in mobile gaming subsidiary Nextwave Multimedia by buying the remaining 28.12% from founders. DeltiasGaming.com had revenues of $575K (around Rs 4.8 crore) for the twelve-month period ending June 2024. As per Absolute Sports, it will use its cash reserves to fund the transaction. With this acquisition, Absolute Sports aims to deepen its presence in the gaming and esports media publishing sector in the US region. It plans to use Deltia’s Gaming’s user base of almost 1.5 million monthly readers and its long-standing brand equity to establish the group as an authoritative voice in the gaming media space. The acquisition also provides the group access to a large audience on YouTube and popular gaming streaming network Twitch under the Deltia’s Gaming brand.

RockClimber banks on authenticity and quality to tap into India’s beverage market

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
RockClimber banks on authenticity and quality to tap into India’s beverage market
Medial

India has a massive beverage market with many established brands, though several new players, such as Bira, have also made their mark. Considering the sheer size of the market, it’s safe to say that there’s ample scope for newcomers. One such new player is RockClimber. The company creates fruit beverages and fruit spirits designed specifically for India, made from locally grown fruits like jamun, grapes, pomegranate, kiwi, mulberry, and litchi, among others. One of the company’s objectives is to help reduce fruit wastage and create a sustainable ecosystem for farmers and fruit produce. We spoke to Cofounder Hariprasad Shetty to learn more about RockClimber, what distinguishes it from the competition, and the roadmap ahead. Here are the edited excerpts: The beverage market is filled with multiple brands, including some very established ones. How do you plan to stand out from the competition? As a truly authentic fruit based beverage brand, we are committed to using high quality fruits with an experimentative approach to crafting unique fruit combinations that incorporate global flavour trends. This has allowed us to offer a very diverse range of exciting and refreshing beverages while keeping fruits at the center of everything we do. That’s what makes us stand out from the rest of the competition – we see ourselves as fruit experts and our products are fresh and engage with the evolving consumer preferences. So our focus is on delivering an uncompromising product experience. We source the finest fruits from across the country. This commitment to authenticity and quality sets us apart from many competitors who rely heavily on artificial flavors and preservatives. And the traction we have had in the last three years also points to how we have been accepted in the market. [FY 22 7 Cr, FY 23 7 Cr, FY 24 25 Cr, FY 25 60-70 Cr domestic and 30-35 outside India = 100 Cr+ target] 140 strong distributor network across 11 states. 3 million + bottles of beverages sold. 3000 tons of fruits processed sourced from a farmer base of 200,000 small scale fruit farmers producing grapes, pomegranate, pineapple, jamun, strawberry, mango etc. What is your offline and distribution strategy, usually the key to robust growth in your category? Most of the work should happen before Day Zero – the launch day. We recognized early on that a robust distribution network is the backbone of success in this business. We adopted a systematic approach to build our distribution network from the ground up. Mapping out territories and identifying potential distributors and retailers who could penetrate different markets. We only went ahead with experienced and reputable distributors who had an in-depth understanding of local market dynamics and consumer preferences. What is your strategy for online? Are you considering partnerships with any quick commerce platform? Yes, now that we have a headway in the distribution aspect and have achieved product market fit, we are now going to go aggressive on the marketing front especially online channels. What are the incentives for a farmer dealing with your platform other than the convenience of direct sale and price? Farmers are looking for a stable assured source of income every year. Timely procurement of their fruit produce, immediate payments, reduction in time to sale, and providing access to a large pool of buyers are all the benefits farmers get by working with us. We started with 500 tons of fruit procurement, and now at over 5000 tons. We aim for 10X procurement volumes in the next 2-3 years, thereby contributing to 10 times reduction in fruit loss, and hence a direct positive impact on small scale farmers livelihood and stable income generation. As we expand our facilities, we aim to recruit local talent to be part of our company and thereby directly provide employment opportunities as well. RockClimber aims to: Scale to 10,00,000 farmer base in the next 3 years Platform building for farmer outreach, communication, and forecasting Patented mobile fruit processing system Export unit in select locations for UAE and Africa markets You also mentioned entering the UAE and Africa markets. What is your roadmap for global expansion? And why particularly these two markets? We expect 30-35% revenues coming in from global markets in the near term. Particularly markets like UAE are huge on experimentation as consumers there are well traveled and have an international palette. We see a large market opportunity in the innovative – new age beverage category in this region.

CoinSwitch’s scale dwindles 82% in FY23; posts Rs 385 Cr loss

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
CoinSwitch’s scale dwindles 82% in FY23; posts Rs 385 Cr loss
Medial

The Indian authorities have always had an antagonistic relationship with cryptocurrency. Following the imposition of a 30% tax on the gains from crypto exchanges, numerous companies operating in this space saw a major downturn. One startup affected by these changes is CoinSwitch, which posted Rs 45.6 crore in revenue during FY23. CoinSwitch, which was valued at over $1 billion, saw its revenue from operations decline by 81.7% to Rs 45.6 crore in FY23 from Rs 248.6 crore in FY22, its consolidated financial statements filed by the group company in Singapore show. CoinSwitch is a cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform. Its products include the Crypto Rupee Index (CRE8), a diversified virtual digital asset index denominated in the Indian Rupee, Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) for consistent crypto investment. The commission earned from the sale and exchange of Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) is the sole source of income of Coinswitch. The company also earned Rs 50.76 crore from interest (non-operating) which tallied its total income to Rs 96.35 crore in FY23. Employee benefits emerged as the largest cost center, accounting for 53.6% of the overall expenditure. This cost surged 2.15X to Rs 258.5 crore in FY23 from Rs 119.8 crore in FY22. Its business promotion, information technology, legal cum professional fees, and other overheads took the overall expenditure to Rs 481.9 crore in FY23 from Rs 763.4 crore in FY22. Check TheKredible for the detailed expense breakup. Evident from the numbers above, the company managed to control its costs though revenues declined significantly. This also led to a reduction in losses by 24.9% to Rs 385.4 crore in FY23 from Rs 513.1 crore in FY22. Its ROCE and EBITDA margin stood at -24% and -396.3%, respectively. On a unit level, it spent Rs 10.57 to earn a rupee in FY23. FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23 EBITDA Margin -204% -396.3% Expense/₹ of Op Revenue ₹3.07 ₹10.57 ROCE -25% -24% CoinSwitch has raised over $300 million across rounds, including a $260 million fundraise from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, and existing investors in October 2021 where it entered a coveted unicorn club. According to the startup data intelligence platform TheKredible, Peak XV is the largest external stakeholder with 15.77% followed by Paradigm, Ribbit Cayman, and Coinbase Global Inc. See the full shareholding below: While the high income from interest indicates a firm that is well capitalised to survive, considering how Crypto boom and bust cycles have been following each other without fail, one has to wonder how many firms can outlast this period. The current resurgence in Bitcoin, the totem for the whole sector, must be giving hopes to many firms of a strong revival yet again, but the tax situation will continue to hurt, effectively capping any significant recovery. Coinswitch surely knows that, and it should be interesting to see them craft a survival strategy that can outlast these periods of gloom, and work around the noose of high taxes that seems permanent for now.

Decoding the financial health of leading cloud kitchen startups

EntrackrEntrackr · 1y ago
Decoding the financial health of leading cloud kitchen startups
Medial

The restaurant industry is witnessing a transformation with the rise of delivery-only models known as ‘cloud kitchens’, ‘virtual kitchens’, or ‘ghost kitchens’. These innovative concepts are reshaping how food is prepared, delivered, and consumed, challenging traditional restaurant models. According to a Redseer report, the estimated size of the cloud kitchen market would touch $3 billion by 2024, from $400 million in 2019. Moreover, top startups operating in the segment mopped up around $600 million in funding in the past three years and close to $1 billion since their inception, according to the startup intelligence platform TheKredible. Among India’s top cloud kitchen startups, Rebel Foods stands out as the poster boy with a topline of around Rs 1,200 crore in FY23. The list further includes Curefoods, EatClub, Biryani By Kilo, FreshMenu, Biryani Blues, Kitchens@, Bigspoon, Dil Foods, and HOI Foods. [Top funded cloud kitchen startups] Rebel Foods, which operates brands like Faasos (now EatSure), Oven Story, Lunch Box, The Good Bowl, Behrouz, Sweet Truth, and Firangi Bake, also emerged as the sole unicorn from the cloud kitchen space. The Peak XV Partners-backed company alone raised over $535 million to date whereas Curefoods scooped up around $170 million from the likes of Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures, IronPillar, Chiratae, and Accel. In December 2023, Kitchens@ raised $65 million from London-based private equity firm Finnest. It’s worth highlighting that the firm also acquired Swiggy’s cloud kitchen’s business ‘Access Kitchens’ in a share swap deal in March last year. To recall, Swiggy entered the cloud kitchen business back in 2017. EatClub raised around $75 million across rounds including a $40 million round led by Tiger Global in December 2021. In 2022, it was also in the news for a secondary round worth $30 million. The firm operates several popular cloud kitchen brands such as Box8 and Mojo Pizza. Biryani By Kilo recently raised $9 million in an ongoing round, pushing the company’s total fundraise to $55 million to date. [Top revenue-generating cloud kitchen startups in India] Rebel Foods’ revenue from operations grew 39.2% to Rs 1,195 crore in FY23 from Rs 858.6 crore in FY22. Curefoods and EatClub follow closely, with revenues exceeding Rs 300 crore each. Biryani By Kilo also claims a revenue of around Rs 300 crore in FY23. However, beyond these frontrunners, no other brands have crossed the Rs 100 crore revenue mark as of March 2023. FreshMenu, Biryani Blues, and Kitchens@ recorded 7.5%, 53.7%, and 64.8% growth in revenue to Rs 70.21 crore, Rs 68.54 crore, and Rs 61.6 crore, respectively during FY23. While Dil Foods and HOI Foods posted Rs 7.08 crore and Rs 2.85 crore operating revenue during the year. [Spending by the cloud kitchen brands in FY23] Rebel Foods spent 31.6% of its total expenditure on the cost of materials amounting to Rs 577.54 crore while 22.2% or Rs 405.46 crore on the employee benefit cost. The overall cost of the company surged 27.9% to Rs 1,827 crore during FY23 from Rs 1429 crore in FY22. Curefoods, EatClub, FreshMenu, and Biryani Blues also spent the most on the cost of materials accounting for Rs 171.7 crore, Rs 126.17 crore, Rs 27.48 crore, and Rs 25.88 crore respectively. Whereas, employee benefit costs of these brands stood at Rs 103.5 crore, Rs 99.5 crore, Rs 17.31 crore, and Rs 14.2 crore. Kitchens@, Dil Foods, and HOI Foods spent the most on employee benefits followed by the cost of materials. In line with revenue, Rebel Foods is also on top in terms of losses. Though, the rise in losses is lower than revenue growth. The company’s losses went up nearly 23% to Rs 656.5 crore during FY23. Curefoods’ bottom line jumped 4.7X to Rs 342.7 crore while EatClub’s losses rose 53.8% to Rs 69 crore during the period. Kitchens@ (Rs 27.3 crore), Biryani Blues (Rs 15.42 crore), FreshMenu (Rs 10.15 crore), HOI Foods (Rs 1.23 crore), and Dil Foods (Rs 0.9 crore) are next in line in terms of losses. [A look at unit economics of top cloud kitchen brands] On a unit level, Rebel Foods, Curefoods, and EatClub spent Rs 1.53, 1.97, and 1.25 to earn a rupee of operating revenue in FY23. Despite their impressive revenue growth, profitability remains a challenge for many cloud kitchen startups. [Conclusion] When we compare the numbers of these players with the large listed players, we see a clear difference in critical cost heads like cost of material, employee costs. Those are areas that will need a continuous improvement in metrics, for these firms to make a serious push for profitability. While some like Freshmenu are in a clear battle to survive until the market turns into a less hostile environment, almost none of these firms can afford to burn through funds as they did in the pre-pandemic years. Even as customers seem to be reconciling to the sharp increase in sticker prices on the menu, pressure on margins from delivery, fast turning into duopoly, will ensure there is little respite in the immediate future. It will take some significant structural changes in the market, in terms of opportunity as well as growth drivers, for these firms to truly sizzle.

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