How this bootstrapped startup is helping youth develop skills through games

Over the last two years, the Indian online gaming industry took off in a big way and saw a prominent rise in the number of users, revenue, investments, and so on.

A KPMG report states that the Indian online gaming industry, which was worth Rs 4,380 crore in the fiscal year 2018, is expected to grow at a 22.1 percent CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) to Rs 11,880 crore by FY 2023. The increased use of smartphones, quick access to data, and the rapid increase of digital payment applications amid the pandemic-induced restrictions have benefitted the growth of this industry.

Noida-based Quizbee is one such startup born during the pandemic that offers a platform for people to spend their time more productively and focus on mental progress, along with earning real-time cash.

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Owned by Intelligence Game Private Limited, the startup was founded in December 2020 by longtime friends Amit Khaitan and Abhinav Anand. The founders were ideating to gamify education for a long time and the lockdown pushed the plans forward – from concept to implementation.

With over 20 years of experience in the delivery of management consulting and systems integration services, Amit has been associated with companies including Sapple Systems, Sapient, and Tech Mahindra. 

Abhinav also worked with Amit at Sapple Systems and Sapient prior to starting his entrepreneurial journey

What does the startup do?

Quizbee is a knowledge and skill-based mobile gaming platform that offers multiple paid challenges across different genres like movies, cricket, travel, food, general knowledge, and puzzles. 

It allows users to earn money, and increase their knowledge and ability to answer questions quickly. 

Commenting on educating youth through game-based learning, Abhinav Anand, CTO of Intelligence Game Pvt Ltd, tells YourStory, 

“We intend to turn a negative point into a positive. Using fun and competitive methods to educate the youth is what Quizbee aims to do. We want to attract youth, especially Gen-Z, and tap their interest in increasing their knowledge and skills.

They will be prepared for the competitive exams as Quizbee is a time-based game application that perfectly captures the cognitive functioning of brain cells, ie, how quickly your brain can perceive a task and complete it within a set amount of time.”

Leading a 25-member team, Amit’s primary responsibilities include all facets of the software development lifecycle, as well as managing large and medium-level accounts. Apart from these, he manages profit and loss management for the territory, engagement management, and client satisfaction with project teams to create long-term, profitable relationships with senior-level executives. He also set up and runs a PMO (Programme Management Office) for large and small teams.

Meanwhile, Abhinav manages the technical aspects of the application and handles development and releases.     

The platform has 50,000 users and 12,000-15,000 MAU as of January 2022. 

Market size and business model

According to an All-India Gaming Federation EY report, the online gaming industry in India is one of the fastest-growing sectors estimated to cross $2 billion by 2023.

The startup monetises its platform through a fee. Amit explains, 

“When a user joins a quiz, they have to pay a fee. The ticket size for joining the rooms varies from Re 1, 5, 10, and so on. The fee goes towards the prize pool that is distributed among the winners. We charge 10 percent of the prize pool as platform fees.”

The founders refused to divulge the revenue numbers at the moment.

The way ahead

Quizbee plans to create a product extension that can increase its penetration into all markets. The startup also plans to add new topics for quizzes, including mythology. 

“We also have shortlisted many more fun games that will be part of our future releases. Also, we have plans around integrating with metaverse so users can have a real-life quizzing experience while sitting at home, which might be the way forward given the kind of disruption we have seen due to COVID-19,” he adds.

Currently available in both Hindi and English, the bootstrapped startup intends to add more languages and also improve the user interface. The startup competes with gaming companies including MPL (Mobile Premier League), Zupee, WinZO, Loco, and others.

Available for Android devices to be downloaded from its official website, Quizbee is soon going to launch its app for iOS users as well, Amit confirms.