[Funding alert] Singapore headquartered SuperGaming raises $1.3M in seed round

Social gaming platform SuperGaming has raised $1.3 million in seed funding. Venture capital firm Dream Incubator, AET Fund (the venture arm of Akatsuki, the Tokyo-listed gaming and entertainment company) and early-stage investor India’s Better Capital participated in the round.

SuperGaming will be using the funds to build its social platform, partner with other popular games, and expand its team.

Munehiko Eto, MD of Dream Incubator 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 plus global quality games with 150 million plus installs, we believe they are best placed to capture the market. We look forward to supporting their entry into South-east Asia market and business development together with the Japanese entertainment industry”.

The Singapore head-quartered platform was founded in 2019 by Roby John, Navneet Waraich and Sanket Nadhani. The founders boast of a rich pedigree in gaming and product development. Roby was previously the co-founder and CEO of YC-backed educational games startup June Gaming, and Navneet was the CTO there. Sanket headed new products at Wingify and was into marketing at FusionCharts before taking the entrepreneurial plunge. It has its development office in Pune.

Commenting on the funding, Roby said in a press release:

“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. 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 large scale 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”.

According to a study by KPMG and Google, the gaming industry is expected to become a $1 billion opportunity by 2021, and SuperGaming’s vision is to offer a complete social experience of a game night. A survey by CyberMedia Research (CMR) analysed that 2,000 smartphone gamers in India has revealed that there are far more female gamers actively playing mobile games like Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans, and crossword puzzles. About 95 percent women were reported to be active gamers as compared to only 85 percent of their male counterparts. 

“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,” added Roby.

The startup is currently targeting customers from Tier I markets and plans to go international next year.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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