AJVC Unfiltered 22: Will Nazara's 20 Year Gaming Empire Dream Come True?

Link to detailed article: https://ajuniorvc.com/nazara-gaming-ipo-esports-mpl-dream11/

Last week Nazara Technologies became the first gaming company ever to be taken public. This INR 583 Cr IPO was oversubscribed 176 times by investors. Even before a 21-year-old Nitish Mittersain could find his foothold with his fledgling startup, he found himself in a $660K debt after the dot-com crash. Nazara.com v1.0 was kept aside, and Nitish resorted to selling bulk SMS packs to stay afloat. But the wheels of his fortune were turning, and by 2005, Nazara had landed a $1.5 MM seed investment and Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador.

The journey ahead could only be in one direction - upwards. But there several more twist and turn that Nitesh had to content with. What did Nazara do to eventually spring back again? Was it just COVID, or did the demographics have a role to play? Will it be able to compete with the new-age fantasy gaming industry and come out on top?