Gaming startup Nazara Technologies acquires majority stake in Paper Boat Apps
Nazara Technologies has acquired 51 percent of Paper Boat Apps, issuing shares worth Rs 43 crore as a part of its final tranche of the acquisition.
Interactive gaming and sports media company, Nazara Technologies, announced on Thursday, July 16, that it has completed its majority stake acquisition of Paper Boat Apps. Nazara has acquired 51 percent of Paper Boat Apps, issuing shares worth Rs 43 crore as a part of its final tranche of the acquisition. It is a part of the Rs 83 crore deal to acquire a majority in Paper Boat Apps, valuing the company in excess of Rs 150 crore.
L-R: Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka (Co-founders of Kiddopia), with Nitish Mittersain (Founder of Nazara Technologies)
Paper Boat Apps are developers of the , a made-in-India app that caters to children between the ages of two to seven.
Nitish Mittersain, Founder and MD at Nazara Technologies, says, “Gamified edtech is the only way to deliver high quality learning to young kids on digital devices. Kiddopia is a perfect example of this overlap between gaming and learning and their popularity amongst parents and kids speaks for itself. Nazara is very happy to add Kiddopia to our portfolio catering to over 100 million monthly active users on our network”
Nazara is a free-to-play kids games publisher with 20 million monthly active children playing, and over 180 million downloads on Google Play and App store. Nazara’s network comprises World Cricket Championship, , and Nodwin Gaming.
Earlier last month, Nazara become the majority investor in the gaming platform, Halaplay Technologies. Nazara had acquired Kae Capital's stake, worth Rs 146.6 crore in Halaplay.
Kiddopia was founded by husband-wife duo — Anupam and Anshu Dhanuka, in 2017. The app has been downloaded by more than five million parents around the world, and currently has over 300,000 active subscribers.
Anupam said in a press statement:
“This investment from Nazara has helped us focus on product enhancement and marketing, thereby leading to a 3x growth in subscriber base...We have just finished our best month and we expect our topline to grow 2x in annual revenues by March 2021.”
Since the initial funding, Kiddopia has seen over 300 percent growth in revenues and is now witnessing an annual revenue run rate of over Rs 175 crore.
Edited by Kanishk Singh