Exclusive: Blume Ventures and First Light Ventures Co-Invest $ 500k in MadRat Games

Based in Bangalore, MadRat games makes multi-lingual games targeted towards K12 students in both the physical and digital format. Via a tweet today, Blume Ventures announced its investment in MadRat. Blume Ventures and First Light Ventures have invested around $500K in Madrat Games.Founded by the trio of Rajat, Manuj and Madhumita Dhariwal, MadRat games has been putting in a lot of legwork from the past couple of years and have seen impressive results, the biggest success being their board game, Aksharit- The Hindi Scrabble. They have also gone digital and are betting big on local language innovations to reach the masses.

Gautam Gandhi, the head of new business development at Google, India has been an advisor to MadRat. Gautam said, “MadRat has been doing some phenomenal work and the reach that we have been able to attain in span of three years has been incredible. Working with schools and governments, the team has been able to achieve something of note."

Adit Parekh, who’d be joining the board said, “The main reasons behind the investment are the team and the market. The team provide a good combination of game play, design and operational expertise gained from their vast background in technology and teaching."

Rajat adds, "The differentiating aspect of MadRat Games is the focus and strength in terms of Innovation in designing gameplay. As recent as last week, this innovation in such a non-conventional field was recognized by the Govt of India, by featuring MadRat Games in the Top Ten Innovators in the "India Innovates" report launched by Hon Sam Pitroda (Advisor to Prime Minister). "

We see our games reaching every Indian household and for all ages - which is why we have created titles like Aksharit (first word game for Indian languages, whose senior version targets housewives / third generation), Catch Cricket (tapping into the Cricket craze - age and demographic agnostic), Gatory (English word building game combining story and games for young children); and we are the proud owners of license of Chhota Bheem, which is the biggest character for Indian kids, and of 9X music channel for teens. Within the first couple of months of launching, these games became Best Sellers on Flipkart and continue to be so.

Being perhaps the only player who have a presence in the physical as well as the digital world, the road ahead would be to build a stronger brand, creating IP around the characters and push more on the digital front.

Have a look at Madrat’s office here.